Veteran Tuckerton Police Cpl.
Justin Cherry has been suspended without pay and charged with official
misconduct and aggravated assault stemming from a January arrest when his K-9
attacked and bit a woman who was stopped for eluding police and other motor
vehicle violations.
Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph
Coronato announced the arrest on Friday. Cherry, a 10-year veteran officer,
seven for the borough police officer, is charged with official misconduct, a
second-degree crime, and aggravated assault, a third-degree crime.
On Jan. 29, a 57-year-old
Barnegat Township woman allegedly failed to stop after Cherry activated his
police vehicle’s emergency lights while the woman was driving in Tuckerton. The
woman drove from Tuckerton to the parking lot of the Barnegat Township
Municipal Complex, where she was taken into custody by two officers from the Barnegat
Police Department. It is alleged that
Cherry was present in Barnegat at the scene of her arrest and unjustifiably
allowed his K-9 to attack and bite the woman. It is also alleged that Cherry
falsified his police reports in an effort to conceal or justify his improper
actions.
Cherry surrendered in the
presence of his attorney, Robert Rosenberg, on Wednesday, April 9. Cherry
posted $15,000 bail and was released
pending further court proceedings.
The woman was charged with
third-degree eluding for the slow speed chase and for other motor vehicle
violations but was not arrested. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office did not
release her name. —P.J.