Man Charged With Disarming Hoboken Cop Is Released In 5 Days

HOBOKEN, NJ — A man who was charged with grabbing a Hoboken police officer's gun in the wee hours of April 10 was released on April 15, said Police Chief Ken Ferrante this week.

The incident began around 2:21 a.m. on that Friday, when Hoboken Police Sgt. Donald Rosso was on patrol at Observer Highway and Henderson Street, near Kobrick’s Coffee Factory on the Hoboken/Jersey City border.

According to the initial release from the police, Rosso observed a man allegedly break into the trunk of a 2019 BMW parked nearby.

Rosso approached the man, who police said fled north toward the Observer Highway firehouse. After a four-block foot pursuit, Rosso, along with officers Christopher Barral and Josh Campoverde, stopped the suspect at 56 Jefferson St.

A violent struggle ensued. Lt. Mike Costello, Sgt. Anthony Russo, and Officer Jesse Castellano arrived to assist.

Police said the suspect tried to push the officers away, then grabbed Barral’s gun and tried to remove it from his holster.

Barrel yelled “He has my gun!" according to the report. But Barral, Russo, and Campoverde were able to use their strength to "keep the suspect from gaining full possession of the weapon."

After the officers were able to handcuff the suspect, police said, he allegedly bit Sgt. Russo on the shin.

Costello, Campoverde, and Barral also sustained injuries during the arrest. Costello and Campoverde were cleared to resume work on their next shift while Officer Barral has been out with a hand injury.

At the time, Ferrante said, "Everyone needs to realize this criminal act, during a pandemic and State of Emergency, not only threatened the lives of the officers involved, but also brought extra exposures to those officers, the EMS workers who had to treat the suspect and officers, the Emergency Room staff who had to tend to them."

Suspect Lonnie Clark, 38, of Jersey City, was brought to the Hudson County Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility in Kearny.

He was charged with burglary, theft, obstructing by flight, resisting arrest by force, disarming a law enforcement officer, and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer.

However, Ferrante said this week that a Hudson County Superior Court judge allowed Clark to be released on April 15, under supervision. He also has a night-time curfew.

In an interview, Ferrante said, “Some of these decisions to release detainees need to be assessed a little better. How is this individual deemed non-violent, and how does one think he will remain on his 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew?"

He said, "This individual has proven to me that he is dangerous to the public and any police officer who has to deal with him.”

Ferrante said the judge released him due to the combination of criminal justice reform and trying to minimize the amount of detainees in County Jails due to coronavirus. He will have a court date when courts reopen.

The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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