Attorney Calls Hate Crime Case Against Ex-Chief 'Witch Hunt'

The attorney representing a former Burlington County police chief accused of hate crime assault is seeking to have the case thrown out, describing the case against Frank Nucera as a “witch hunt.”

Nucera, the former Bordentown police chief and township administrator, also faces charges of deprivation of civil rights under color of law and making false statements related to allegations that he attacked 18-year-old Timothy Stroye, of Trenton, when police responded to an incident at a hotel in Bordentown in 2016. Stroye is African-American.

The FBI previously investigated Nucera in 2007, according to the Trentonian. No charges came as a result of that investigation, and it wasn’t clear what information prompted the investigation. It was provided by Jacob Archer, who is now an FBI Special Agent, but wasn’t when he provided the information. Since then, Archer has met with Bordentown Township Police Sgt. Nathan Roohr, who began secretly recording Nucera back in 2015. Roohr has provided over 100 hours of recordings to the FBI as part of the investigation, according to nj.com.

Nucera’s attorney, Rocco Cipparone Jr., is looking to have the recordings suppressed and/or the case thrown out, according to the Trentonian report. He claims Archer was “anything but an objective, neutral FBI Agent” in a meeting with Roohr, and questions why the FBI didn’t attempt to seize computers in an attempt to recover emails about Nucera Roohr admits were deleted because he didn’t think they would have an impact on the investigations.

Other officers with the department also secretly recorded Nucera all the way back to 2014, according to the report. Cipparone claims this was part of a “tangled web” effort to get Nucera removed as police chief by members of his own department.

Police responded to the Bordentown Ramada on Sept. 1, 2016, for a report of two people who wouldn’t leave. One was Stroye, and the other was a 16-year-old female acquaintance. They initially resisted arrest, but were in the process of being arrested when Nucera arrived. After Stroye was handcuffed and was being escorted from the hotel by police,Nucera came up from behind and slammed his head into a metal doorjamb, authorities allege.

Nucera is also accused of lying to federal investigators by claiming he hadn't touched the suspects during the arrest or detention.

The recordings include numerous racial slurs Nucera has reportedly made over the years. The complaint filed in the case chronicled past incidents in which Nucera enlisted the use of police dogs to intimidate African Americans, including at high school basketball games. In 2016, he allegedly told an officer to walk a K-9 through an apartment building in order to intimidate the African Americans who lived there.

Nucera served as Bordentown Police Chief and Township Administrator before he abruptly retired in 2016.
His sudden resignation came after the Attorney General's Office was told by federal authorities that he was under investigation, according to the Courier Post. He made $151,418.31 per year, and has an annual pension of $105,992.76, according to nj.com. He receives $8,832.73 per month.

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