Video Shows Newark Man Jumping On Police Car; Cops 'Do Nothing'

NEWARK, NJ — A pair of Newark officers were suspended after an internet video emerged of a young man stomping on a police car last weekend. During the incident, the officers allegedly “did nothing” despite being trained to respond to “unstable” individuals, Newark’s Public Safety Director said.

The incident took place on Saturday, Aug. 4 on Clinton Place near Lyons Avenue and was captured on video (see below).

A shirtless man can be seen talking to a police officer who is sitting in his car at an intersection. As a crowd begins to gather, the man then climbs onto the police car and begins jumping up and down, creating loud thumping noises as his feet hit the hood.

“Where’s your backup at?” a bystander rhetorically questions the police, who remain in the car while the man continues to jump on the hood.

Multiple police cars then pull up on the scene with lights flashing as the man climbs onto the roof of the car and stands motionless, watching them arrive. When the arriving officers attempt to talk to the man, he climbs down from the car and scampers onto another… and then another. Meanwhile, several bystanders can be seen throughout the video laughing and encouraging the man’s behavior.

After several minutes, the man climbs back down from his perch on the police car and begins approaching officers while waving his arms. At that time, onlookers’ attitudes begin to change.

“Don’t do it bro!” one person calls out. “Back up man!”

Authorities eventually managed to take the 18-year-old Newark resident into custody and charged him with three counts of criminal mischief, stating that he “acted irrationally” when he jumped on the car.

He was transported to the Essex County Correctional Facility after the incident, authorities said.

• See related article: Don't Publish Names In Mental Health-Related Crimes, Expert Says

After video footage of the incident emerged on social media, the Newark Department of Public Safety’s Office of Professional Standards launched an investigation, reviewing body camera footage of the encounter prior to making their decision to punish two of the involved officers.

According to Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose, the officer who remained in his vehicle and a second officer who responded as backup have been suspended as of Tuesday. Their names are being withheld due to an ongoing internal investigation, and both officers will be “afforded all rights of due process.”

The officer who remained in his vehicle during the incident has seven months of service time with the Newark Police Division, and the officer who responded as backup has 10 years of service time, authorities said.

Ambrose released the following statement about the incident:

“All officers are trained to respond in various types of situations, including ones where they encounter unstable individuals. These officers instead took no action at all to quell the situation, and to aid and subdue the suspect, as they are trained to do. This lack of action could have resulted in the suspect injuring himself, as well as other persons or property. The majority of Newark Police Division officers are proud and hardworking. The Newark Police Division and the citizens of Newark deserve better than what was demonstrated by these officers. They had an opportunity, and an obligation, to help the suspect, who was acting irrationally, and they failed to do so. We should not confuse restraint with a lack of response. If they did not help themselves, then how can we expect them to help the citizens that they serve.”

Ambrose’s analysis of the officers’ responses ran contrary to one, heavily “liked” comment on the video.

“What's lost in this video is the outstanding job these police did in this case,” the commenter wrote. “He could have said ‘I was scared so I shoot him’… Instead he waited for backup and then talked him down. Share this video everywhere. This is good police work. This is what’s needed in the streets of America.”

• See related article: Newark SWAT, Police Use Sensitivity To Avert Tragedy

Watch the video footage below. Warning: May contain offensive language.

Keep updated with local public safety alerts at the Patch Newark Facebook page. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Photo: YouTube / John Smith