NAACP says AG must investigate cop punching man in the head

NAACP says AG must investigate cop punching man in the head

Two local chapters of the NAACP are calling for New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to take over the investigation of an arrest in which a Camden police officer was caught on video repeatedly punching a man in the head.

Edward Minguela, 32, a father of three, was walking on Collings Road Feb. 22 when he was stopped by police who'd received a call about a man with a gun.

An officer took him to the ground and punched him 12 times in the head while two other officers held Minguela down, according to surveillance video Minguela obtained from Fairview Liquors store.

The Camden County Prosecutor's Office is investigating, and the Camden County Police Department has placed the three officers on paid leave, calling the video "extremely disturbing."

But Lloyd D. Henderson, head of the Camden County East branch of the NAACP, said it "just doesn't look right" for the county law enforcement officials to be investigating the police department they work so closely with.

"As you may know, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office depends upon the Camden County Police to prosecute most of the cases in the county," Henderson wrote in a letter to the attorney general. "They need the cooperation of the police and a good working relationship."

Henderson said the request came from his branch as well as the Camden County chapter of the NAACP.

It echoed a call from Minguela's attorney, Devon Jacob of Pennsylvania, for the attorney general or the FBI to investigate.

At a press conference Monday, he said that the prosecutor's office is investigating Minguela's claim that he was unlawfully charged with resisting arrest and obstruction and beaten, and at the same time, prosecuting him on those charges.

The attorney general's office would not discuss possibly getting involved. An office spokeswoman said only that the local prosecutor's office was investigating.

Minguela said that he was surprised when police came up behind him, drew their guns and told him to put his hands up Feb. 22. He said he complied but was tackled and punched, and then was taken to the hospital.

He said that at the hospital, an officer told him that if he asked for medical care, they would charge him with assaulting a police officer, but if he declined care, they would let him off with two municipal citations. He opted for the latter, he said, but went back to the hospital later and learned he had a concussion and a fractured wrist.

Jacob has demanded the officer who threw the punches to be fired and that the prosecutor's office to drop the charges, but neither has happened. Minguela's hearing on his charges has been postponed twice, something his attorney said was so a non-local judge could hear them to avoid a conflict of interest.

Dan Keashen, a spokesman for the police department, said the incident is isolated and "is not who we are as a police department and does not represent our training, standards or culture at the agency."

But in an email to reporters this week, the Camden County branch of the NAACP took exception to Keashen's categorizing the incident as isolated. The organization pointed to resolved and ongoing excessive force suits in which residents claim they were beaten by officers.

The ongoing suits include one from Xavier Ingram, who was 21 when he was paralyzed during officers' attempt to arrest him for allegedly possessing a handgun in 2014. Police maintain he injured himself when he fell while fleeing, but he claims in his suit that his neck broke when an officer stepped on his neck.

In 2017, the county paid an undisclosed sum to settle a civil rights suit from Quinzelle Bethea, according to the Courier-Post. Douglas Dickerson, the officer caught on camera beating Bethea, was fired and convicted of assault.

According to the Asbury Park Press, the county paid $375,000 to settle an excessive force suit by Dana Robinson, who suffered a broken hip and other broken bones during his arrest for disturbing the peace while fishing in Camden in July 2013.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.