A Black man in New Jersey was getting iced tea out of his automotive final month when police smashed the car window and shot him 4 instances, his attorneys say in a new civil lawsuit.
Jajuan R. Henderson, 29, is now paralyzed from the chest down on account of the incident, in line with the swimsuit, which was filed in opposition to the 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 felony fees ― together with aggravated assault ― within the incident. The assault fees have since been dropped, although he’s nonetheless going through fees of resisting arrest and obstruction, NBC News reports.
Henderson was retrieving some iced tea from his parked automotive on the road exterior a Trenton residence round midnight on Feb. 12, the suit, filed by Zeff Law Firm on behalf of Henderson, states.
“In the midst of the night time, Jajuan sat lawfully parked in a automotive with the engine turned off when an unidentified darkish automotive approached and parked subsequent to him, boxing him in,” the swimsuit reads. “A gaggle of males, totally masked and in darkish plain garments, then jumped out of this mysterious car and started yelling at Jajuan.”
Paperwork from the Mercer County prosecutor’s workplace had beforehand characterised Henderson as being uncooperative when confronted with a motorized vehicle 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 concept who they had been, and seen the scenario as 4 masked strangers menacingly approaching him in the midst of the night time.
“This group of males, showing as some other group of harmful criminals from a horror film, turned out to be from the Trenton Police Division,” mentioned his attorneys within the swimsuit.
Mercer County mentioned Henderson didn’t present ID and was on a telephone name, which his lawsuit said was an try to name for assist. One officer then smashed Henderson’s window and prosecutors mentioned he tried to flee, hitting one other automotive within the course of. Police fired on him 4 instances, 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.
Wilson and the town of Trenton didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark from Avisionews, although the town of Trenton has informed a number of information retailers it has no remark. The 4 officers concerned within the taking pictures have been positioned on administrative depart.
