Excessive Force Lawsuit Targets West Deptford Police Department

WEST DEPTFORD, NJ — A recent lawsuit filed in federal court chronicles a consistent pattern of the use of excessive force by the West Deptford Police Department, highlighted by a 2015 incident in which a man claims he was brutally beaten by police officers while at a house party.

Christopher Cuneo, who was 18 at the time of the alleged incident, claims he was beaten by two police officers to the point of unconsciousness. He says one officer hit him so hard, his tooth was knocked loose and he suffered a huge gash on his face. He had to be hospitalized following the alleged attack, according to the lawsuit filed on Monday, July 17.

West Deptford Solicitor Timothy Scaffidi wasn’t immediately available for comment Wednesday morning.

According to the lawsuit, Cuneo was attacked by officers Charles Svenson and James Creedon, who were responding to the house party at about 2:10 a.m. on July 18, 2015. Cuneo claims he was leaving the party when the officers asked him to identify himself. When he refused, he claims Svenson grabbed, tackled and slammed him using a double-leg wrestling maneuver that was “more intense than a regular compliance hold with such force.”

Cuneo claims it was Creedon who then viciously attacked him, unprovoked. He claims that although he was ultimately taken to the hospital, the officers initially rolled him onto his stomach and placed him in handcuffs. He also claims the West Deptford Police Department engaged in a conspiracy to cover up the incident.
Svenson and Creedon, the police department and the township are named as defendants in the suit.

Cuneo seeks general, compensatory and punitive damages, cost and interest, attorney’s fees, pre- and post-judgement against all defendants and any other relief the court deems just and equitable.

Cuneo’s attorney, Princeton-based Tracey Hinson, cites a pattern of excessive force offenses against the West Deptford Police Department both before and after the alleged attack against Cuneo.

The earliest incident alleged in the suit took place on Aug. 6, 2003, when a woman claims police broke her femur while keeping her from an apartment her 5-year-old daughter was in. That suit was settled for $600,000.

• The use of excessive and unnecessary force in pulling a woman from her car on Aug. 12, 2005, resulting in permanent injury to her wrist;
• A man’s claim that he was beaten and sprayed with a chemical agent after he was arrested following a domestic incident on Nov. 28, 2006;
• The assault of a 67-year-old woman in her home while police were arresting her grandson on Oct. 11, 2007;
• A 74-year-old woman who suffered from previous injuries being forcibly removed from a court proceeding on May 13, 2009;
• The April 6, 2012 assault of a man who suffers cerebral palsy that was settled for $237,500; and

The suit claims Creedon and Svenson, and multiple other police officers, have been the subject of numerous excessive force complaints over the previous 10 years.

Patch file photo