Police Captain Disputes Patrolman's Reasons For Stopping Assemblyman During DWI Arrest in 2012

Video from the dashboard of Washington Township Patrolman Joseph DiBuonaventura’s car is inconsistent with DiBuonaventura’s reasons for pulling over Assemblyman Paul Moriarty, Capt. Rob Borkowski testified during DiBuonaventura’s trial this week, according to the Courier Post.

DiBuonaventura is being charged with 14 counts, the most serious of which are charges of official misconduct, following false DWI charges being filed against Moriarty, a a 4th District Democrat, in 2012.

Moriarty was charged during a traffic stop following a visit to a Nissan dealership run by political opponents who had campaigned against him the previous year, but those charges were were eventually dismissed and the investigation turned to DiBuonaventura.

DiBunoaventura was responding to reports from employees at the car dealership that Moriarty was drunk when he left the dealership. He maintains an officer is “duty bound” to respond to reports of a drunk driver, according to the report.

He also said Moriarty cut him off and his attorney said Moriarty violated state law by not using the deceleration lane prior to his turn, according to the report.

However, the video shown in court this week shows there was a car between DiBuonaventura and Moriarty, and Borkowski disagreed with the assessment that Moriarty violated the law while making his turn.

Borkowski did say there was probable cause to believe Moriarty was drunk during the stop, though, and noted an unusual request by DiBuonaventura to interview witnesses at the car dealership during a DWI investigation. He also refused Borkowski’s offer to make help available to him for the investigation, according to the report.

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