East Brunswick Cop Who Struck Pedestrian Not At Fault, NJ Jury Finds

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — An East Brunswick Police officer who struck a pedestrian while responding to an emergency call will not be criminally charged, NJ Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.

A state grand jury voted not to file criminal charges in the death of Julius Filep, 55, of Edison. Filep was fatally injured on August 1, 2021, when a police car struck him in East Brunswick while Filep was walking on Route 18. More: Edison Man Fatally Struck By Police Car, State Investigating

Patrolman Mitchell Ngai was on-duty while operating a marked patrol vehicle at the time of the fatal accident.

Filep’s death was investigated by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) and presented to New Jersey residents on the state grand jury in accordance with the 2019 Independent Prosecutor Directive, Platkin said.

The investigation included interviews with witnesses, review of video footage, event data recorder for the police vehicle, multiple 911 calls, radio transmissions, and autopsy results from the medical examiner. More: AG Releases Video, Audio Of Fatal East Brunswick Police Car Crash

The evidence was presented to a state grand jury. After hearing the testimony and evidence, the grand jury concluded its deliberations Monday, and voted “no bill,” concluding no criminal charges should be filed against Ngai of the East Brunswick Police Department.

According to the investigation, a vehicle struck a utility pole along the northbound side of the highway. That driver was later summoned for careless driving after the investigation revealed he had been sleeping while operating his vehicle, Platkin said.

The crash caused the utility pole, electrical transformers and wires, as well as other debris, to fall on both the northbound and southbound side of the highway. Additionally, the first vehicle remained disabled on the highway.

Filep was driving his vehicle in the northbound lanes and his vehicle was disabled after crashing with debris on the ground.

In the southbound side of the highway, a third driver, as well as an 18-wheel truck, drove over the downed wires, resulting in arching electrical wires that were on fire, Platkin said.

After Filep and others made 911 calls, two East Brunswick Patrol Officers were dispatched to the highway and were told that there were “wires down” and a car crash.

Patrolman Ngai arrived in the area, around five minutes after the initial accident. When he initially received the call for service, Officer Ngai was traveling on Route 18 northbound.

At that time, there was an active fire on the southbound side of the highway, resulting from the downed, arching wires, from the earlier crash. Filep was standing in the left lane of the northbound side of the highway, near the concrete median, wearing a black shirt and black shorts, in an area that was not illuminated by street lights, according to the investigation.

Patrolman Ngai’s vehicle struck a wooden pole that was on the road as a result of the first crash and then struck Filep before crashing into the first disabled vehicle on the northbound side of the highway, the investigation found.

Emergency medical personnel rendered aid to Filep, who was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:13 a.m.

A 2019 law, P.L. 2019, c. 1, requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody.

The law requires all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.

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