Woodbridge Man Says Edison Police Racially Profiled Him

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — A Woodbridge Township man has filed a lawsuit against Edison Police, alleging that police racially profiled him when they arrested him in February of 2020, and charged him with illegal marijuana possession and resisting arrest.

The lawsuit was filed by Tremayne Howard, an African-American man who lives in Fords. He filed the suit Feb. 14 in Middlesex County Superior Court.

Edison Township, Edison police officers Michael Kohut and Michael Geist, plus other unnamed Edison police officers are named as defendants.

Edison Police did not respond when asked if they had a comment on the lawsuit.

The incident happened when Howard was on Fayette Street in Edison Township at 12:23 a.m. on February 20, 2020. That was when he said police officers unlawfully beat him (using excessive force, he says), searched his car without a warrant and arrested him.

(This happened one year before it became legal to possess small amounts of marijuana in New Jersey. Gov. Murphy signed a law on February 22, 2021 that legalized marijuana possession.)

Edison Police wrote in their report that that area is known for car thefts and that it is "uncommon for individuals to rummage through multiple vehicles at this time of night."

According to his lawsuit, Howard said he was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt that night. He said Edison police officers watched him remove a backpack from one Jeep and place it into the trunk of another Jeep, while holding two sets of keys in his hand. Howard said an officer approached him, questioned him about who owned the vehicle and what he had placed in the trunk.

At that point, (Howard) "became agitated and began crying, then sat on the ground."

"The police report stated: 'We asked Howard for the keys to the Jeep so we could make sure the vehicle belonged to 'Amanda' and to check the bags contents to confirm there were no proceeds from motor vehicle burglaries. Howard refused to hand the keys to officers and immediately became irate. We stood him up and attempted to place him in handcuffs due to his change in demeanor and the fact that he had a set of keys in each hand that he was refusing to hand over."

"Up to this point, defendant was not observed doing anything criminal and not advised he was under arrest for anything," read his lawsuit.

The police report then said Howard pulled away from the police officers and attempted to run.

"He was taken to the ground," read the report.

Edison Police did file a use-of-force report in this incident and it showed that Howard was charged with possession of under 50 grams of marijuana, obstructive of law and resisting arrest.

According to his lawsuit, "there was no resisting arrest (no one ever advised defendant he was under arrest or for what. Defendant became hysterical (not in dispute). The police began to physically assault him (not in dispute) An ambulance was called and required to take defendant to the hospital after police punched, kneed and choked defendant."

The use-of-force report did show that officers punched Howard twice on the left side of his body to secure his arms and get him into what police call a "compliance hold."

"Mr. Howard engaged in no other activity other than to attempt to avoid and get away from the police attack on his person. Same is allowed by law and God!," wrote his lawyer, Elridge Hawkins. "Individuals in New Jersey are allowed to defend themselves from a physical attack upon their persons."

Hawkins was a New Jersey Assemblyman from 1972 to 1978; before that, he was the East Orange city prosecutor. He is a Democrat. During his tenure in office, he sponsored NJ's Affirmative Action Law. He is now a lawyer in private practice in East Orange.

Marijuana was found by police in one of the bags, which Howard and his lawyer said police removed from the car without a search warrant.

Police camcorder videos from the arrest were incomplete and did not fully show who did what to whom and the “compliance hold” recorded "somehow avoided showing Defendant’s body on the ground and what happened to him at this point," wrote his lawyer.

Howard's lawyer said that his jaw was also broken when police put him in a chokehold (he was diagnosed with a broken jaw at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital before he was taken to the Middlesex County Jail) and he had multiple bruises all over his body.

Howard is seeking $2.5 million in damages.

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