NJ Cop Hid Gang Ties, Conspired With Latin Kings Member: AG

TRENTON, NJ – A Trenton police officer who lied on his job application to hide his connections to a street gang conspired with an imprisoned Latin Kings member to plan a retaliating assault, state officials said.

Rudy Lopez, 36, of Hamilton, was charged with official misconduct, conspiracy and tampering with public records, Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Monday.

Lopez, a Trenton police officer since September 2020, denied on his job application that he was associating with gang members, while in fact he was regularly communicating with an imprisoned member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, according to the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) in the state Attorney General’s Office.

Lopez is currently suspended with pay.

“Instead of serving his community and making it safer, we allege Officer Rudy Lopez was colluding and sharing sensitive information with a convicted felon,” said OPIA Executive Director Thomas Eicher. “We will have no tolerance for suspected gang associates infiltrating the ranks of New Jersey’s police agencies.”

Lopez and the incarcerated gang member planned an assault as retribution against a suspected cooperating witness, who the pair believed given police information used to put Lopez’s alleged co-conspirator behind bars.

Lopez also offered to track down the target’s location, investigators said.

The official misconduct and conspiracy charges are both second-degree and carry a sentence of five to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000. Tampering with public records is a third-degree crime that could trigger a sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

“Police officers who betray their oaths erode the public’s trust in law enforcement, undermining the image of the vast majority of upstanding public servants who wear the badge and risk their lives to uphold the law,” Platkin said. “We expect our police officers to be above this kind of behavior, and those who engage in criminal conduct will be held accountable.”