Former NJ Police Captain Attacked Victim During 'Dispute': Prosecutor

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A former Palisades Park police captain wrapped his hands around a victim's neck and jaw during a dispute last week, officials say — and it was caught on cellphone video.

Shawn M. Lee, 49, of Closter was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated assault, said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

"The defendant ... wrapped both hands around the neck of the victim, thereby creating a temporary loss of the function of any bodily member, or organ, or temporary loss of any of the one of the five senses," says the complaint in the case.

Lee's employment with the Palisades Park police ended in 2022, officials confirmed.

Prosecutors said that police got a 911 hangup call from a Palisades Park home last Wednesday just after 9:30 p.m.

When they responded, they were told an assault had taken place earlier that day.

Police contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to help investigate.

The investigation determined that Lee had attacked the victim during a dispute, prosecutors said.

According to the complaint, the assault was recorded on cellphone video.

Lee was arrested in Closter on Friday and charged with third-degree aggravated assault.

He was taken to the Bergen County Jail to await a detention hearing in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack, prosecutors said.