TRENTON — The Attorney General’s Office today released the identity of the moped driver who died in a September 20, 2023 crash with a civilian motor vehicle in Paterson, New Jersey, while being followed by an officer from the Totowa Police Department. The decedent has been identified as David Lucero, 28, of Paterson. The Totowa police officer who was pursuing Mr. Lucero’s moped at the time of the collision was Totowa Patrolman Damiano DiIorio.

According to the preliminary investigation, Patrolman DiIorio was in a marked patrol vehicle when he began following the motorized scooter, operated by Mr. Lucero, who had a single passenger aboard the moped. The pursuit began in Totowa and continued into the City of Paterson. There, in the area of McBride and Murray avenues, at about 7:19 p.m., the motorized scooter collided with a civilian vehicle. That collision caused the moped riders to be ejected. The two men were transported to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, where Mr. Lucero was pronounced deceased at approximately 2:06 a.m. on Thursday, September 21, 2023. The other individuals involved in the collision sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

A 2019 law, P.L. 2019, c. 1, requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.

The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.

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