A Black man in New Jersey was getting iced tea out of his automobile final month when police smashed the automobile window and shot him 4 occasions, his attorneys say in a new civil lawsuit.
Jajuan R. Henderson, 29, is now paralyzed from the chest down because of the incident, in keeping with the go well with, which was filed in opposition to town of Trenton, director of Trenton police Steve E. Wilson, and the 4 law enforcement officials concerned within the taking pictures.
Henderson was unarmed and no officers had been injured, but Henderson himself initially confronted prison expenses ― together with aggravated assault ― within the incident. The assault expenses have since been dropped, although he’s nonetheless going through expenses of resisting arrest and obstruction, NBC News reports.
Henderson was retrieving some iced tea from his parked automobile on the road exterior a Trenton dwelling round midnight on Feb. 12, the suit, filed by Zeff Law Firm on behalf of Henderson, states.
“In the midst of the evening, Jajuan sat lawfully parked in a automobile with the engine turned off when an unidentified darkish automobile approached and parked subsequent to him, boxing him in,” the go well with reads. “A bunch of males, absolutely masked and in darkish plain garments, then jumped out of this mysterious automobile and started yelling at Jajuan.”
Paperwork from the Mercer County prosecutor’s workplace had beforehand characterised Henderson as being uncooperative when confronted with a motorcar cease, NJ.com reported. However Henderson’s attorneys emphasised that as a result of the officers had been in plainclothes and sporting masks, he had no thought who they had been, and seen the scenario as 4 masked strangers menacingly approaching him in the course of the evening.
“This group of males, showing as every other group of harmful criminals from a horror film, turned out to be from the Trenton Police Division,” mentioned his attorneys within the go well with.
Mercer County mentioned Henderson didn’t present ID and was on a cellphone name, which his lawsuit said was an try and name for assist. One officer then smashed Henderson’s window and prosecutors mentioned he tried to flee, hitting one other automobile within the course of. Police fired on him 4 occasions, hitting him within the neck and again.
“It’s a miracle that Jajuan survived,” Richard Smith of the NAACP mentioned, per CBS News. The New Jersey NAACP held a press occasion earlier this week to announce the lawsuit.
His attorneys are additionally calling for physique digicam footage from the incident to be launched to the general public.
The town of Trenton mentioned it’s cooperating with an investigation into the incident.
“The Metropolis of Trenton has absolutely complied with the required Lawyer Normal’s assessment of the February 12 incident, and await the findings,” spokesman Tim Carroll informed lawyerroll. “The Metropolis has no touch upon any pending litigation.”
The 4 officers concerned within the taking pictures have been positioned on administrative depart.