Carteret Police Officer Charged With Beating Of Teen

CARTERET, NJ — A Carteret police officer was criminally charged Friday with violently beating up a teenage boy last week in Carteret, allegedly causing serious injuries to the boy's face. The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office is bringing the charges. That police officer is the brother of Carteret Mayor Dan Reiman, who showed cautious support for his brother earlier this week in this Facebook post, urging the public not to "scapegoat" the officer.

The boy's family, meanwhile, said he was a victim of police brutality and asked the public to widely share these photos of the teen on social media.

Carteret Police Officer Joseph Reiman, 31, was charged with one third-degree count of aggravated assault and three second-degree counts of official misconduct. As Patch reported, the incident happened last Wednesday night, May 31. While on official duty and in a patrol car, Officer Reiman was pursuing the teenage driver, who was driving a black sedan. The teen is 16 and under the legal driving age in New Jersey. The teen crashed his car into a utility pole guide wire and the airbags were deployed.

After the teenager exited his vehicle, Officer Reiman, while on top of the teen, punched the teen several times with a closed fist, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey said. The teen's injuries can be seen here. Following the assault, an ambulance was not called to the scene, Carey said. Instead, the teenager was placed in a patrol car.

While Officer Reiman failed to activate his body-worn camera, the patrol car video captured much of the scene, the county prosecutor said. The video is not being released to the general public at this time, as the investigation is active and ongoing, Carey said. Furthermore, given that the teenager is a juvenile, his name is not being released by law enforcement at this time.

Investigators charged Officer Reiman with three counts of official misconduct for assaulting the teenager, failing to activate his body-worn camera, and failing to use reasonable discretion or restraint in the amount of force used to apprehend the teenager.

Reiman has been placed on restrictive duty. Earlier this week, Mayor Reiman asked everyone to allow the county prosecutor to investigate and also called on the prosecutor to make public all video, photos and transcripts of the incident. However, he also added:

"Under our system of law all criminal defendants are innocent until proven guilty, regardless of their past criminal activities or convictions; yet in society today the police are made scapegoats and presumed guilty before and independent investigation is started or completed."

While the criminal charges are being prosecuted by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, a referral has been made to the United States Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey, concerning the federal civil rights of the teenager. Deputy Chief Dennis McFadden of the Carteret Police Department also investigated the incident.