Jan. 6 Arrest In Toms River: Man Charged With Assaulting Officer

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River man has been charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

Salvatore Vassallo, 59, was arrested Wednesday in Toms River. He has been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon and interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, both felony charges, the Justice Department said.

Vassallo also is charged with five related misdemeanor offenses: entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; act of disorderly conduct in the capitol grounds or buildings, and act of physical violence in the capitol grounds or buildings.

The riots disrupted the joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to count the electoral votes and certify the election of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

An anonymous tip to the FBI in June 2021 alleged Vassallo had urged a coworker to meet up in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, and identified him in an FBI photo, along with a photo taken in Washington on Jan. 1, 2021, according to court documents.

Authorities then traced his activities through photos and video footage from bodyworn cameras of law enforcement, the court documents said. The photos later were shown to a former neighbor of Vassallo, who positively identified Vassallo as the man in the photos, the document said.

According to the court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Vassallo hopped over a rail and joined a mob that was confronting law enforcement officers on the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol, near the Senate Wing Door and the Senate Fire Door.

At 4:26 p.m., Vassallo emerged from the crowd and faced the officers, and several seconds later charged at an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department who was assisting other officers, the court documents say.

Vassallo grabbed and pushed the officer with what appeared to be a significant amount of force, according to the court documents, which said the incident was captured by bodyworn cameras on several officers. He left the area moments later.

Vassallo made his initial appearance in federal District Court in New Jersey and was released pending further proceedings in the District of Columbia, the Justice Department said.

He is the first Ocean County resident charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection; there have been 24 New Jersey residents charged overall.

In the 20 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 870 people have been arrested, with arrests in nearly all 50 states, in connection with the breach of the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department said. Of them, more than 265 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.