TRENTON — The Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability today released video footage relating to a death of a civilian following an encounter with members of law enforcement in Toms River, New Jersey, on April 19, 2024. The decedent is identified as John Cassidy, 47, of Toms River, New Jersey.

The 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. Investigators provided representatives of Mr. Cassidy’s family with an opportunity to review the recordings prior to their public release.

According to the preliminary investigation, at approximately 1:00 p.m. on April 19, 2024, Island Heights Police Officers Peter Muscarella, Dominique D’Amico-Violante, and Lt. Paul Rutledge attempted to arrest Mr. Cassidy at a gas station on Route 37 near West End Avenue based upon active warrants. Mr. Cassidy re-entered his parked vehicle despite instruction not to, and refused to exit the vehicle when ordered by the officers. For approximately 25 minutes, officers unsuccessfully attempted to have Mr. Cassidy exit the vehicle.  Assisted by Toms River Police Officers Anthony Pacella, Krzysztof Kowalczyk, and Sgt. Shan Ruiz, as well as Ocean County Sheriff’s Sgt. Anthony Pereira, officers physically removed Mr. Cassidy from his vehicle and handcuffed him while on the ground. Moments later, Mr. Cassidy suffered a medical episode and officers on scene provided medical aid. Emergency medical personnel arrived on scene and took over medical care of Mr. Cassidy, who was then transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River. Mr. Cassidy was later pronounced deceased at approximately 2:25 p.m.

The body-worn camera videos are available here: https://njoag.app.box.com/s/foh338bzt77lzhcjpj11q4sqb1zmgcjf

A 2019 law, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2), 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.

Further information about how fatal police encounters are investgated in New Jersey under the Independent Prosecutor Directive is posted on the Attorney General’s website: https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcj/agguide/directives/ag-Directive-2019-4.pdf

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