At Least 4 NJ Cops Busted In FBI Probe, Brutal Video Assault

At least four police officers have been busted in an FBI probe, with the latest arrest happening on Tuesday and another officer sentenced on Wednesday. A video was published showing one officer brutally assaulting a patient at a hospital.

Daniel Pent, 32, of Paterson, was arrested by special agents of the FBI on a complaint charging him with conspiring to deprive individuals of civil rights under color of law, according to a US Attorney's Office release. Officers also have been accusing of stealing money.

Ruben McAusland, 27, of Paterson was sentenced Wednesday to 66 months in prison for violating an individual’s civil rights by assaulting him at a hospital and repeatedly distributing narcotics, including drugs he stole from a crime scene while on duty, according to the release.

McAusland is seen slapping a man twice across the face in this video posted by NJ Advance Media and the media outlets (viewer discretion advised):

Pent was arrested and charged with conspiring to violate the civil rights of motor vehicle occupants and others in Paterson, New Jersey, US Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Pent was scheduled to have his initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Mannion in Newark federal court.

Pent is at least the fourth Paterson cop charged with crimes in a federal investigation that started more than two years ago, according to The Record. The police officers are accused of making rogue traffic stops and shakedowns from 2016 until 2018.

The release said four police officers have been charged, but The Record identified six: Pent, Eudy Ramos, Jonathan Bustios, McAusland, Roger Then and Matthew Torres.

According to documents filed in this and other cases and statements made in court:

Pent, and other Paterson police officers, including Eudy Ramos, stopped and searched motor vehicles, without any justification, and stole cash and other items from the occupants of the motor vehicles, according to the release.

Pent, Ramos, and others also illegally stopped and searched individuals in buildings or on the streets of Paterson and seized cash from those individuals.

On Feb. 1, 2017, Pent and Ramos stopped and searched a vehicle in Paterson, detained and handcuffed the occupants, and stole approximately $10,000 from one of the occupants.

Pent told Ramos that either they should take all of the money or they should take none of it, and they chose to take all of it, according to the releease.

They split the money between themselves. Pent and Ramos subsequently arrested the victim and charged the victim with loitering in a drug area. Pent filled out a prisoner property report for the victim that falsely stated that the victim had approximately $36 on his person, according to the release.

Ramos and Pent submitted an incident report in which they omitted the fact that they had located, and seized, $10,000 from the victim.

A federal grand jury indicted Ramos on March 20, 2019, for his role in the conspiracy and other civil rights and false records charges. His case is pending before US District Judge Katharine S. Hayden.

The conspiracy to violate civil rights charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

McAusland, meanwhile, pleaded guilty on June 27, 2018, before US District Judge William H. Walls to information charging him with possessing with intent to distribute narcotics and deprivation of civil rights under color of law.

According to documents filed in this and another case, and statements made in court:

Between October 2017 and April 2018, McAusland sold various types and quantities of narcotics to an individual who was cooperating with law enforcement. In October 2017, McAusland sold the individual approximately 35 grams of marijuana, 48 grams of heroin, 31 grams of cocaine, and 31 grams of crack cocaine. McAusland admitted that he stole these narcotics from a crime scene while on duty and in uniform as a police officer, according to the release.

McAusland also sold the individual two pounds of marijuana between November 2017 and January 2018. In addition, on multiple occasions between February 2018 and April 2018, McAusland sold pills that were made to resemble Percocet doses but were actually made of heroin, according to the release.

On March 5, 2018, McAusland and his partner, Then, 29, of Paterson, were on duty and responded to a call from an attempted suicide victim. McAusland and Then went to the victim’s house but were told the victim had been transported to St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson, according to the release.

McAusland first met the victim, who was in a wheelchair, in the hospital waiting room. McAusland admitted that during the encounter, he pushed the victim and punched him in the face. In addition, Then allegedly grabbed the victim by the neck and pushed him into the ground. Afterwards, the victim was taken to a patient room, according to the release.

McAusland and Then had another encounter with the victim in the hospital room, which Then recorded on his cellphone. McAusland admitted that, while the victim was on his back in a hospital bed, he put on a pair of hospital gloves and violently struck the victim twice across the face, according to the release.

McAusland admitted that they purposely omitted from the repot the fact that McAusland violently struck the victim multiple times and that Then grabbed the victim by the neck and pushed him into the ground, according to the release.

The victim suffered multiple injuries to his face, including an eye injury that required surgery, as a result of these assaults.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Walls sentenced McAusland to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $32,892.

Then pleaded guilty before Walls on Dec. 6, 2018, to one count of misprision of felony for concealing civil rights violations. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 2.

Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, with the investigation leading to the arrests.

He also thanked the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, the Paterson Police Department, under the direction of Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale and Police Chief Troy Oswald, and the Paterson Police Department Office of Internal Affairs, for their assistance in the investigation.