A city police officer was arrested on Friday, Jan. 23 and charged with allegedly violating a defendant’s civil rights by using excessive force during a 2013 arrest, as well as allegedly falsifying records in an attempt to conceal the alleged crime, according to a press release issued by U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
Police Officer Domenico Lillo, 44, of Bayonne was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents after a federal grand jury in Newark returned an indictment charging him with the “deprivation of civil rights under color of law and falsification of records.”
Lillo had his initial appearance and arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III in Newark federal court on Jan. 23, according to FBI spokeswoman Doreen Holder of the bureau’s Newark Field Office. Lillo was released on $100,000 unsecured bond.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
On the evening of Dec. 27, 2013, Lillo and other police officers from the Bayonne Police Department went to an address in Bayonne to execute a Sussex County arrest warrant.
Lillo allegedly struck the subject of the warrant with a flashlight while the individual was handcuffed and not resisting arrest, which resulted in bodily injury.
Lillo also allegedly falsified a Bayonne Police “Use of Force Report” related to the arrest with the intent to impede an investigation into the case.
Lillo is one of the defendants in a federal lawsuit filed last November by Brandon Walsh, 26, and his family, according to a report on nj.com.
The “use of excessive force count” with which Lillo is charged carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, according to Fishman’s press release. The charge of falsifying records carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Lillo, 44, has been a Bayonne police officer for 14 years, according to Public Safety Director Robert Kubert. He was arrested at his home about 9:20 a.m.
The indictment was the result of an Internal Affairs complaint received by the Bayonne Police Department shortly after the warrant arrest of the individual on Dec. 27, 2013, according to a press release issued by the Bayonne Police Department. Following the complaint receipt and video evidence collection of the incident on Dec. 30, 2013, by Bayonne’s Internal Affairs Unit, Lillo was placed on modified duty.
The matter was then forwarded to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office for further action in keeping with state guidelines governing Internal Affairs investigations involving allegations of criminal conduct, the BPD release further stated.
Kubert said that Lillo was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the charges.
Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, and special agents of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christina Scaringi, with the investigation leading to the arrest.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacques S. Pierre of the Special Prosecutions. Defense counsel is Frank Arleo, Esq. of West Orange.
Joseph Passantino may be reached at JoePass@hudsonreporter.com.To comment on this story online visit www.hudsonreporter.com.