Letter to the Editor: Ocean City Resident Questions Dismissal of Charges Against AC Cops

Dear Editor,

On Jan. 20, the Atlantic County Prosecutor delivered a gift to 6 AC cops. Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain was able to get the Grand Jurors to dismiss all charges against the police that brutally beat a 20-year-old Linwood man.

The casino security camera captured the officers beating David Castellani mercilessly with blunt weapons. For the horrific grand finale, K-9 Officer Wheaton ordered his attack dog to viciously and repeatedly bite Mr. Castellani’s neck and head as he was lying face down with his hands cuffed behind his back. It took more than 200 sutures to close the young man’s dog bite wounds.

How did Prosecutor Jim McClain work his magic on the Grand Jury to obtain a dismissal of all charges against this gang of AC cops? Was a requirement for Mr. McClain choosing his jurors that they never saw and were not allowed to see the video? How did Mr. McClain find the people making up his Grand Jury? Were these jurors family members or friends of the involved cops? Does McClain have a vested interest in exonerating rogue cops violating a citizen’s civil rights?

The Grand Jury system has dismissed charges of police brutality and even murder all across America. A cruel irony of this local outrage is the timing of McClain’s announcement being 1 day after Martin Luther King Day.

The young victim, Mr. Castellani, was indicted for “aggravated assault on a police officer and (the standard and in this case, meaningless) resisting arrest.”

As a final insult to injury, the Prosecutor indicted Mr. Castellani for inflicting harm on Officer Wheaton’s attack dog. These indictments potentially put this young man at risk for a long prison sentence.

There is something rotten eating away the soul of America. What was done by these cops to this young man could easily happen to anyone’s child as there is no accountability for them. If the people don’t stand up and challenge this perverted system a full-fledged police state is on its way, if it’s not already here.

Sincerely yours,

Steven Fenichel, MD