For Immediate Release: July 29, 2024
Office of the Attorney General
– Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General
Office of Public Integrity and Accountability
– Drew Skinner, Executive Director
For Further Information:
Media Inquiries-
Dan Prochilo
OAGpress@njoag.gov
TRENTON — The Attorney General’s Office today released surveillance-camera footage and police radio transmissions relating to the February 5, 2024 death of a Morris County man who was killed in a crash in Hackettstown, New Jersey, involving a member of the New Jersey State Police (NJSP). The civilian who died during the encounter was previously identified as Raul L. Diaz, 59, of Long Valley, New Jersey.
This fatal police encounter is under investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA). The recordings are being released pursuant to policies established by the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 designed to promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters. Representatives of Mr. Diaz’s family were given an opportunity to review the recordings prior to their public release.
According to the preliminary investigation, on February 5, 2024, shortly after 6 a.m., Sergeant First Class Kesene Grier of the NJSP was driving an unmarked police SUV which collided with a cyclist, later identified as Mr. Diaz, on Willow Grove Street in the area of Brook Hollow Drive in Hackettstown. Mr. Diaz was transported to Hackettstown Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased at 7:17 a.m.
The recordings are available here: https://njoag.box.com/s/oh6su6jcoysxg7009mlapaad7vd3ldbe
A 2019 law, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2), requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of deaths that occur during encounters 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.
The Independent Prosecutor Directive is posted on the Attorney General’s website and is available here: Independent Prosecutor Directive
OPIA’s standard operating procedures for grand jury presentations of investigations involving fatal police encounters are also posted on the Attorney General’s website, and are available here: OPIA Grand Jury SOPs
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