Marcus Jeter thought things were going to go bad and he would be murdered by police one fateful night in 2012. He was violently assaulted by Bloomfield, N.J., police, after being accused of resisting arrest, and trying to take a police officer’s gun. The then-30-year-old Jeter was facing serious time in prison. But that was according to the police report. In fact, Jeter was the victim that night of cops gone wild and if it were not for a dashboard cam video, Jeter would be in prison.
It was a scary night for Jeter when was he pulled over by police, their blue lights flashing. Then, two cops one with a weapon drawn, the other brandishing a shotgun ran to his car. They ordered him out of the car, and Jeter holds his hands up, and yet he is punched repeatedly in the face by one police officer who is trying to unfasten his seatbelt. Then another squad car crosses the median and hits Jeter’s stationary car. All of this was caught on police dashboard video. But when Jeter was charged by Essex County prosecutors this video was not given to them showing the events as they unfolded. Bloomfield police had attempted to hide the video. Fortunately for Jeter, the video surfaced and now he is a free man and three cops have been indicted.
Bloomfield cops Orlando Trinidad and Sean Courter have been charged with charged with official misconduct, tampering with public records, and false documents and false swearing, while a third unidentified officer has been forced to retire. Trinidad is also being charged with aggravated assault for the brutal beat down he gave Jeter that night.
The mayor of Bloomfield, Michael Venezia, made the following statement on his Facebook page: “I am outraged by the police dashboard video and the fact that these charges were initially dismissed by our internal affairs division. This behavior is unacceptable. I have contacted the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office to request an investigation of our police department’s internal affairs division.”
