6 Corrections Officers Charged In Assault On Youth Inmate: NJAG

TRENTON, NJ — Six correctional officers at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility are facing criminal charges after they dragged an inmate out of his cell unjustifiably, Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Friday.

Correctional Police Sgt. Michael Emmert, 37, of Toms River and five senior correctional police officers — Christopher Toth, 37, of New Egypt; Raymond Quinones, 43, of Beachwood; Michael Gaines, 56, of Willingboro; Mark Sadlowski Jr., 44, of Sewell, and Michael Ambrozaitis, 58, of Southampton — were charged May 25 as part of an ongoing investigation at the facility, Platkin said.

Emmert faces the most serious charges, two counts of aggravated assault and tampering with records, while the others are charged with tampering, authorities said.

According to the attorney general's office, at about 12:05 a.m. on April 8, 2020, Emmert and the other officers conducted a forced cell extraction of an inmate. The Department of Corrections policy permits use of force that is objectively necessary and reasonable, the attorney general's office said. It requires that an inmate be given an opportunity to comply before a forced cell extraction proceeds, he said.

Emmert did not follow that policy, the attorney general's office alleges.

Investigators say Emmert, in his initial approach, sprayed the victim with Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray — pepper spray — without giving the victim any opportunity to comply, and despite the victim offering to be handcuffed.

The other five corrections police officers joined a five-person suited team and approached the victim's cell again, and Emmert again sprayed the victim with pepper spray without giving the victim an opportunity to comply, according to the complaint. The officers then entered the cell and forcibly removed the victim, the complaint said.

The victim screamed in pain and left his cell covered in blood, was given an inhaler and oxygen in the infirmary, and was treated for lacerations on his face, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, the victim offered his hands and asked to be handcuffed, but Emmert pepper-sprayed him and did not allow him to leave the cell voluntarily. Emmert also gave no orders, the complaint said.

In his incident report, Emmert claimed the victim refused orders to be handcuffed, blocked a food port, and attempted to “mule kick” a shield — which is contradicted by video and photographic evidence, the attorney general's office said.

Toth was one of two officers with Emmert when Emmert approached the cell the first time, the complaint said. After Emmert sprayed the victim, Toth used his shield to block the victim into the cell, the complaint said. Toth, in his report, claimed the victim was sprayed “in order to gain compliance, which was not effective.”

Toth also claimed the victim tried to hit him and kick him, the complaint said.

Quinones, who was part of the five-person suited team, is accused of lying in his special custody report, writing that the victim refused to be handcuffed and was combative when the cell door opened, the complaint said.

Gaines, who also was part of the five-person suited team, is accused of lying in his special custody report, saying the victim “was ordered to comply” and was sprayed, know.

Sadlowski, who also was part of the five-person suited team, is accused of lying in his special custody report, writing the victim “refused to handcuff” and that “[w]hen the door opened, the inmate was combative.”

Ambrozaitis, who also was part of the five-person suited team, is accused of lying in his special custody report, writing that the victim “refused to comply.”

Authorities allege all five of the suited team members knew the victim was not given a chance to comply and filed their reports intending "to deceive others within the DOC into believing that the use of force ... was justified."

The investigation at the facility in Chesterfield by the Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division, and the Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is ongoing, Platkin said.

“Correctional police officers are entrusted with great authority over the inmates in their custody, and when they abuse that power, they must be held accountable,” Platkin said,

"We must hold correctional officers to the highest standards and any form of abuse will not be tolerated,” said Victoria Kuhn, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Corrections. “Individuals within the custody of the New Jersey Department of Corrections deserve to be treated with decency and dignity.”