Officer Roger Then, of the Paterson Police Department, has been arrested by FBI agents in connection with the beating of a suicidal hospital patient while the unnamed victim was in a wheelchair and in a hospital bed, according to court documents.
Then, 29, is the fourth Paterson police officer arrested by the FBI in the past two months, part of an ongoing federal probe that also has resulted in the arrests of three other city cops and the suspensions of two others.
He was arraigned in federal court in Newark on Wednesday and was released on bail.
Then is accused of making a video recording of the beating, which was allegedly carried out by an unidentified city police officer, according to a federal affidavit establishing probable cause for Then’s arrest.
The officers’ alleged attack injured the victim’s face, and he needed eye surgery as a result of the beating, federal authorities said. Then, who has been a member of the police department since July 2016, has been suspended without pay.
Judge Lena Dunn Wettre approved Then’s release on $150,000 bail during a hearing in United States District Court in Newark late Wednesday afternoon. Then was restrained in handcuffs and he was wearing a black T-shirt and faded blue jeans. He barely spoke during the proceeding.
“Yes, your honor,” he said when asked if he understood his rights and the potential penalties he faced.
As conditions of his bail, Then cannot leave New Jersey, he had to give up his guns and was forbidden any contact with the victim, witnesses and his alleged co-conspirator. Then was represented by a lawyer from the federal public defender’s office.
“This is part of the Paterson police department’s ongoing investigation being conducted in partnership with the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and the FBI,” said Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale. “The Paterson police department will never accept this kind of behavior, but I want to make it clear that these allegations are not an indication of the other 418 men and women in the Paterson police department who act under the color of the law every day.”
Three other Paterson officers have been arrested on unrelated charges in April.
Officers Eudy Ramos and Jonathan Bustios were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit civil rights violations. They allegedly made illegal traffic stops, improperly detained motorists and took money and guns from them. Bustios also was charged with extortion in that case.
Another officer, Ruben McAusland, was arrested at the end of April and charged with selling drugs while on the job.
In those cases, federal authorities cited extensive video and audio recordings depicting the alleged crimes, part of the months of surveillance by FBI agents targeting suspected Paterson cops. The complaint against McAusland says an accused drug dealer wore a wire recording him.
Ramos, Bustios and McAusland initially were all suspended without pay at the time of their arrests, but are now on paid administrative leave. Under an uncommon provision in Paterson’s contract with the police union, unpaid suspensions end after 30 days. Ramos, Bustios and McAusland all started work as police officers in 2014.
Two other officers – Frank Toledo and Matt Torres – were suspended without pay earlier this month on undisclosed departmental disciplinary charges, according to Paterson police officials. Those suspensions were connected to the federal probe, officials said.
The officer described as Then’s accomplice in the alleged hospital assault also has been suspended without pay, officials said. His name has not yet been made public.
Then and the unnamed officer responded to a call about a suicide attempt and met the victim at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson, according to federal authorities. The victim was described as an emotionally disturbed person who used a boxcutter to cut his wrist, according to court records. Members of the Paterson Fire Department had transported the victim from his home in the city to St. Joseph’s, according to court records.
The hospital’s surveillance video shows the suicidal man throw something down the hall while in a wheelchair, authorities said. After that, the unnamed officer pushed the wheelchair and punched the suicide victim in the face, federal authorities said.
As the victim was falling from that blow, Then allegedly grabbed him by the neck and pushed him to the ground, authorities said.
“Defendant Then and Police Officer 1 omitted material facts from the police report,” the affidavit states. “Namely (a) Police Officer 1 punched the Victim and defendant Then grabbed the victim by the neck and pushed him to the ground.”
Then allegedly used his cell phone to record a subsequent attack in the victim’s hospital room, while the victim was on his back in a bed, authorities said. The criminal complaint against Then revealed some of the alleged conversation that Then recorded.
At one point, the victim called the unnamed officer an expletive meaning “female dog,” authorities said.
“I’m a what?” the officer allegedly responded.
The victim then said, “Do it.”
In response, the unnamed officer put on hospital gloves and struck the victim twice in the face, according to the criminal complaint.
“I ain’t (expletive) playing with you,” the officer allegedly said.
The victim then covered his face with his hands and was silent, the complaint said.
“Calm your (expletive) down,” the unnamed officer said, according to the complaint.
Then is facing charges of misprison of felony, which is a charge that is filed for not reporting a crime. He is also facing charges of conspiracy to commit civil rights violations. He faces a maximum of 13 years in prison if convicted of the two charges against him.
All I wanna know is, Did the FBI hand cuff him and than cave his head in with repeated blows?
If not than he wasnt treated the same as the rest of us , so get on it NOW!
Probably they are fresh out of being trained in Israel.
A suicidal patient in a wheelchair needed a beating too, huh?
This nonsense has been going on for far too long. Something’s gotta give, and soon.
I was rolling around in my chair feeling down one day, and began to contimplate suicide.so I called the suicide hotline and explained my situation. The middle eastern voice asked in broken English, Can you drive a truck??