Widow Of Man Who Died In Old Bridge Police Custody Intends To Sue

OLD BRIDGE, NJ — The widow of a man who died while in the custody of Old Bridge police last summer said she now intends to sue the Old Bridge police department.

Kimberly Koski, the wife of the late Frank Zampini, filed a notice of tort claim on July 22; that is a legal filing that she may sue a public body.

Normally, notice of a tort claim must be filed within 90 days after the incident. However, Koski said it took nearly a full year after her husband's death to get information from New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal as to how he died, view his autopsy and learn that a use-of-force report had been filed by Old Bridge police.

To this day, she said she still has never see the initial police report on the incident.

A Middlesex County Superior Court judge will decided Aug. 28 if her case can proceed.

Patch reported on Zampini's death the day it happened: Police say Zampini was high on drugs and he became first combative, and then unresponsive after police handcuffed him.

Zampini, 49, lived in the Stratford apartment complex in Old Bridge, where he died.

The New Jersey attorney general's office investigates all incidents when someone dies in police custody. At the time, they released a press release with their account of what happened that night: At 12:51 a.m., Old Bridge police were called to Arcade Lane in the complex for a 911 call reporting a man on drugs who was causing a disturbance inside a neighbor's apartment. The Attorney General declined to reveal which drugs.

When officers arrived, they encountered Zampini inside the neighbor's apartment. Police said he initially was combative and officers placed him in handcuffs. Zampini then became unresponsive.

Officers began CPR and called for EMS, who continued CPR upon their arrival. Zampini was pronounced dead inside the apartment at 1:46 a.m.

Koski said she and the couple's son, Frank Zampini, Jr., were in Michigan visiting family when she got the call from her husband's mother that Frank had died.

Koski said she was given the phone number for Old Bridge Police Det. Anthony Matola, who told her he could not give her any information beyond what was publicly available at the time, in the form of the press release from the attorney general.

Days after her husband died, Koski said she still had not been given his body or received any information, including the police report, about what happened that night. Koski said she was then referred to Melissa Miller in the Attorney General's office, where she was told it could take "up to six months or even longer" for the family to get any information, including the police report.

Koski said she then called Miller once a week for the next several months, still seeking to obtain the police report.

"In response, Ms. Miller provided various versions of 'I can't tell you anything about an ongoing investigation,'" read Koski's lawsuit. "Eventually, my son was fed up with being left in the dark. He filed an OPRA request for information pertaining to the death."

Finally, in early July 2020, almost a year after her husband died, Koski said she and her son were told they could come to the Attorney General's office to view some documents related to the case.

It was there, for the first time, that Koski said she was given a use-of-force report.

"This was the first time we learned that the Old Bridge police department used force at the scene," said the widow. "This is the first day we received any tangible information that police misconduct may have been involved in my husband's death."

Koski said she was also given a redacted copy of the initial 911 call and saw her her husband's autopsy.

However, she said she still has not see the initial police report, and she was never given a physical copy of the autopsy report.

Koski is represented by Joseph Peters with Mandelbaum Salsburg. Police officers William Duggan, Melissa Wines, John Hall and Sergeant Gary Bracht are specifically named in the notice, as is the Old Bridge Police Department.

Initial Patch report: Old Bridge Man Dies While Handcuffed In Police Custody, AG Says (July 15, 2019)

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