Ex-Chief Accused Of Hate Crime Assault Went Out On Routine Calls

A former Burlington County police chief accused of hate crime assault, deprivation of civil rights under color of law and making false statements reportedly made a habit of responding to routine calls, even when off duty.

Former Bordetnown Police Chief Frank M. Nucera responded to about 1,000 routine calls, such as pedestrian stops, traffic stops and burglar alarm reports in 2015 and 2016, philly.com reports. One African American resident told the newspaper Nucera responded to one report of what the report describes as “an interracial couple’s playful antics on a park bench.”

“Why would the chief jump into his car to come to an event like this?” Bob Moore wondered in an interview with the paper.

Nucera has pleaded not guilty to the hate crime charges, which allege he attacked 18-year-old Timothy Stroye, of Trenton, when police responded to an incident at the Bordentown Ramada on Sept. 1, 2016. Two teenagers had stayed at the hotel without paying, and were swimming in the hotel pool that afternoon, according to police. One was Stroye, and the other was a 16-year-old female acquaintance.

Philly.com’s story was built on audio recordings, dashcam footage and Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests. A video of the dashcam footage was published and can be found below. It reveals that four police cars responded to the scene, including Nucera.

When the first officers arrived to speak with Stroye and the girl, both teens resisted arrest and the situation escalated into a physical altercation in which one cop used pepper spray, according to a federal indictment. As they were being arrested, Nucera arrived on the scene.

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.

There is no footage from inside the hotel, but Stroye is shown later in the video being escorted out by three police officers, with no shirt and no shoes on. He appeared to be squinting from the pepper spray. The video is attached to this post.

Part of the evidence to be used against Nucera includes includes over 100 hours of recordings. Nucera was secretly recorded by another police officer at the Bordentown Township Police Department, Nucera's attorney previously told nj.com. Nucera's attorney added that the officer made the recordings on his own, and that he had a number of questions, including whether or not the recordings were edited and when they were started and stopped.

Nucera is also accused of lying to federal investigators by claiming he hadn't touched the suspects during the arrest or detention. His trial is scheduled to begin later this year. Stroye was charged with two counts of aggravated assault on police, resisting arrest, improper behavior/disorderly conduct and theft of services. Those charges have been dismissed.

Nucera served as Bordentown Police Chief and Township Administrator before he abruptly retired last year. The complaint filed in November 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.

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.

Authorities previously said the use of excessive force and hate crime counts with which Nucera is charged each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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