Family Of Mercer Co. Man Who Died Days After Arrest Sues Police, City

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — The family of a Trenton man who died 18-days after police pepper-sprayed him during an arrest on his front porch, has filed a lawsuit against the city and the Trenton Police Department.

Joseph Ahr, 64, died on July 24, 2020. He was arrested on July 6, 2020, after an altercation with officers from Trenton Police Department, who were looking for his son.

Ahr was hospitalized in intensive care for 18 days after officers used “excessive and unjustifiable force,” the lawsuit said.

The Attorney General’s office is investigating the incident and last summer, the office released body camera footage showing the confrontation.

According to the lawsuit and body camera footage, Ahr explained to police he had only one working lung which often swells and complained of difficulty breathing.

Police were looking for Ahr’s namesake son during the altercation, who they believed to be inside the house. Officers pulled Ahr from the front door of his house and onto the ground. An officer pepper-sprayed him while Ahr was being handcuffed.

“I can’t breathe,” Ahr is heard telling officers in the footage. At no time during the encounter did Ahr “strike, attempt to strike, or intend to strike” any of the officers, the lawsuit said.

The family’s attorneys Robin Kay Lord and Clifford D. Bidlingmaier, III said in the complaint that officers did not have a warrant and were indifferent to Ahr’s medical needs.

According to the complaint, Trenton Police Officers did not treat Ahr after pepper spraying him and instead waited for paramedics to arrive.

The 12-county wrongful death suit said that Ahr’s family suffered psychological and emotional distress due to his death.

Officers identified by the Attorney General’s office are Nicholas Piotrowski, Glendy Quijada, Bryan Kirk, Kozell Hodges, Cornell Huff, Angel Pena, Yajaira Torres, Rosemarie Addar and Jeffrey Donaire.

Piotrowski used pepper spray on Ahr, while officers Quijada, Kirk and Hodges used compliance hold on him, reported The Trentonian.

Ahr was an Amtrack employee in New York City and was known as Ugg Mugg by his children, according to his obituary. He enjoyed cooking out, fishing, doodling, watching sports and boxing.

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