Prosecutors Won't Charge NJ Cop Who Punched Woman On Beach

WILDWOOD, NJ — Authorities have decided not to press charges against a New Jersey police officer who punched a woman in the head, all caught on a video that went viral and in bodycam footage, during a Memorial Day weekend beach incident.

"It was determined by the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office that the actions of the arresting officer(s) did not meet the evidentiary standards to warrant criminal charges," according to a release from the office.

The graphic video horrified many, while many others also stood up to support the police. "You're about to get dropped," one of the officers told the 20-year-old woman just before police grabbed her, tussled with her and then punched her.

(See video below – WARNING: graphic material; viewer discretion advised).

Emily Weinman, 20, of Philadelphia was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault by spitting bodily fluids at a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction and being a minor in possession of alcohol.

Stephen Dicht, an attorney for Weinman, called the ruling "ridiculous" but "not surprising," saying it continues a pattern of enabling alleged police brutality.

"One is getting her head beaten in and she's charged with aggravated assault," Dicht said. "He's the one doing the punching and he's not charged with aggravated assault."

Dicht did tell Patch a judge in Philadelphia ruled Tuesday that Weinman did not violate her probation, related to a previously unrelated arrest and conviction, when she was charged in the Wildwood incident.

In a statement, Jeffrey H. Sutherland, Cape May County prosecutor, said the preliminary investigation consisted of reviewing the bodycam footage, a review of video taken by an individual on the beach as well as interviews with several witnesses.

"As county prosecutor, I recognize that the video footage has raised a lot of questions regarding the officers' actions. A decision such as this is not based on emotion; it is based upon applying the proper laws, policies and directives that govern law enforcement," Sutherland said.

"Members of the public should understand that no matter what your opinion is regarding the subject event, it is not based on a full review of the evidence," he added. "Ms. Weinman and her attorney are entitled to due
process."

As a result of this finding, Sutherland said, the Wildwood Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit is conducting an "administrative investigation," with monitoring by the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office.

Dicht has told Patch that the bodycam footage is perhaps "even more graphic" than the social media video released on Memorial Day weekend. "You hear her screaming, you see the officer pulling her hair," he said.

Dicht said a state Superior Court hearing on Weinman's charges is scheduled for 9 a.m. on June 15 at Cape May County Courthouse. He said the 20-year-old, despite suffering from depression stemming from the incident, has been receiving "tremendous support" from people throughout the country.

"For every one negative comment, there are 5 positives," he said.

The bodycam footage was released after a social media video of the Wildwood incident was posted on Facebook by Weinman, who said she went to the beach with her daughter, her father and a friend this Memorial Day weekend when the incident occurred. She has since taken the post down, although it initially was posted by an onlooker on Twitter.

Read more: Stunned, Strong Reactions To Bodycam Of NJ Cop Punching Woman

In the bodycam footage, Weinman can be heard saying, "Is there a problem?..Mind your own business." She also says, "I didn't take a drink of anything," after blowing into a Breathalyzer, and passing the test.

Police ask for her phone number and she doesn't provide it. Weinman instead walks away while looking at her cell phone. "Go grab her real quick. We're going to have them pour that all out," one officer can be heard saying.

Later, the officers continue to ask for Weinman's information, including her name. She declines. "I'll give you one more chance to give me your last name," the officer says. She declines again.

"OK, what's your last name?" the officer asks again.

"You don't need my last name," Weinman says.

"OK. That's it. I'm done with you. Do you have cuffs on you?" the officer says as he heads toward Weinman.

"Get over here," the officer says.

"Don't touch me!" Weinman says as she puts her hands up, calling for "Matt!"

"You're about to get dropped," the officer says.

The officers then appear to grab Weinman's hair as she goes down.

"My daughter!" she yells.

The struggle continues. "They're choking me," Weinman says. "I can't breath."

"I'm not choking you," the officer says as he appears to have his forearm near her neck.

"Yes you are," Weinman says, saying, "Get the f--- off me!"

"That it," the officer says as the punches came down.

After the struggle and as Weinman is cuffed, she says, "You white piece of (expletive deleted) trash." She then spit at one of the officers.

Here is the video:

Gov. Phil Murphy, who said last week that he hadn't seen the videos, did say that based on what he's heard, "it's pretty darned disturbing."

But Murphy also said that everyone should await the outcome of the various probes into the matter before deciding what action needs to be taken. The governor has not yet commented on the bodycam video.

"If you see an example of excessive force, you've got to pursue it, figure out why heck that happened, because based on everything I've heard, it was pretty darned disturbing," Murphy said.

The two officers, who were not identified, have been reassigned to administrative duty pending the outcome of the Wildwood internal affairs probe.

In a statement, Chief Robert Regalbuto said that while he finds this video to be "alarming," he does not want to rush to any judgment until having the final results of the investigation.

Despite cautioning against making a judgment, however, Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano did say he believes the police "were doing their job" because the woman "refused to comply" with their orders.

"People come down here to have a good time and we want them to have a good time, but we also want them to obey the laws," Troiano told nj.com. "That is not a hard thing to do. Just obey the laws."

Troiano also told nj.com that "if our officers are wrong, they're wrong and they'll be handled as such...But when push comes to shove, I think our police officers did what they had to do."

“Everybody’s trying to paint this young lady as an upstanding model citizen,” Troiano also told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “She’s on probation for four years. She chose to attack the officer, spit on the officer. Look I don’t care who you are and what you are, the worst people [to try to subdue] are women.”

Dicht, speaking to Patch, took Troiano to task for defending the officers even though he admitted he hadn't even seen the bodycam footage. "He hasn't even seen it so where does he does he come off making comments like that?" Dicht said. "Don't go trashing a victim of police brutality before the facts are out."

In the bodycam footage, the officer who does the punching gave his account of the incident:

"She wouldn't give me last name so I said, 'Hey if you're not going to give me your information, you're going to be locked up.' She tried walking away from me."

"When she tried walking away from me, I tried grabbing her. She tried kicking at us, so I slammed her on the ground. She kicked him," he said, pointing at the other officer.

"I then hit her a couple times, put her in cuffs, locked her up."

Regalbuto also told WABC7 that the social media video doesn't tell the entire story, but he also gave the woman some benefit of the doubt. "I clearly think it something that we need to work on, but again, you have to see the entire video," he told the station.

The incident happened when two officers approached the woman and asked her how old she is, Weinman said in her now-deleted Facebook post. In the social media video scuffle ultimately ensued, and somebody – a woman and possibly a police officer – can be heard saying "stop resisting."

A young child can also be heard crying as people stood on the beach and watched two officers handcuff the woman.

Wildwood Commissioner of Public Safety Tony Leonetti told NBC10 that Weinman assaulted one of the officers by kicking him in the groin and then running away, which was not shown in the video and possibly happened before she was punched.

In her post, Weinman, who acknowledged she is under 21 years old but said she didn't do anything wrong, said she was sore and had a headache after the incident.

Weinman has a number of defenders who have taken to social media or posted on media reports, taking Wildwood officials to task for their allegedly aggressive tactics.

"I mostly don't understand why she had to be cuffed. Hitting her in the head is cause for a lawsuit for battery. If I were her I would get a great lawyer, so that that cop can be relieved of his job and get some money for pain and suffering," one person wrote on Patch.

Troiano told The Press of Atlantic City that Wildwood is a "good town" that treats people well, "provided they act accordingly, that they act like adults and don't act foolishly."

He did acknowledge that police typically just write tickets for underage drinking. “We simply don’t have the jail space to arrest everyone that’s underage drinking. We would have to build a prison,” he told The Press. “But people need to understand that it is illegal and that kids can lose scholarships to college and their licenses over something like this.”

“I don’t understand why it seems to be that this is a God-given right that they can come here and drink underage,” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Weinman said in her Facebook post that when the police officers initially approached, she agreed to take a Breathalyzer test and it came back negative.

"I told them I wasn’t drinking and the alcohol was clearly closed/sealed, which the cops seen," she said. "They still stayed, the one cop following me when I walked away to go make a phone call after they did what they had to do."

Weinman said she asked the officers if they didn't have something better to do "than to stop people for underage drinking on the beach, saying that there’s so much more serious stuff going on."

"The cop said, 'I was gonna let you go but now I’ll write you up.' And he asked my name."

The woman said she refused to give him her information because she was innocent. "I told him I have my 18-month-old daughter with me and there’s no need for all of it and that again," she said. "I’m not gonna give him my information knowing I didn’t do anything wrong."

Weinman said the officer said he was going to arrest her and started coming towards me to put handcuffs on me. I cautiously was backing up from him (facing him) and yelled for my daughter's father (he was playing in the ocean with our daughter at the time)."

"I tripped and fell and the cop tackled me to the ground and smashed my head into the sand," she said. "At that point, I blacked out and fought any way possible trying to get up and push him off me.

"That's when he head locked me by his arm around my neck, punched on me in my head and then he head locked me again, but this time choking me. I was gasping for air."

"Yes, I know I should’ve gave him my name. I was partly wrong in a way but I was scared."

Wildwood police have asked anyone who was at the scene of the arrest, particularly those who have supporting video that could assist in the probe, to contact Detective Lt. Kenneth Gallagher at 609-522-0222. The Cape May County Prosecutors Office, Professional Standards Unit will also be assisting in this investigation.

Here is the video:

YouTube video/photo