NEWARK -- A Newark police detective pleaded not guilty this morning to charges he punched and shoved a teenage boy outside an apartment building in March, allegedly without provocation, in a scene captured on video surveillance camera. Detective Angel Pared, 29, is also accused of attempting to cover up the action by falsifying his report. The case drew headlines...
Newark Police Detective Angel Pared sits in the courtroom waiting for his arraignment this morning at the Essex County Courthouse. Pared is charged with official misconduct in connection with an alleged assault of a 15 year old in March that was captured on video. Pared is also accused of trying to falsify his report of the incident.
NEWARK -- A Newark police detective pleaded not guilty this morning to charges he punched and shoved a teenage boy outside an apartment building in March, allegedly without provocation, in a scene captured on video surveillance camera.
Detective Angel Pared, 29, is also accused of attempting to cover up the action by falsifying his report.
The case drew headlines because of the video and because it happened in the run-up to the Newark mayoral election, during which the police department’s relations with the community came under scrutiny.
Pared who was released without bail following his indictment last month, appeared with his attorney in Superior Court in Newark to answer the charges.Pared, dressed in a black suit with red shirt and tie, pleaded not guilty through his attorney to third-degree tampering, third-degree assault and fourth-degree official misconduct.
During the hearing, Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Brandon Minde offered a plea deal requiring Pared serve three years in state prison – with a minimum of two years – and forfeit his right to hold public office, stripping him of his badge.
Outside the courtroom, Pared’s attorney, Anthony Fusco Jr., said his client “won’t entertain the plea deal.”
The video shows Pared in a face-to-face confrontation with 15-year-old Travis Rattray outside a Spruce Street apartment building on the night of March 24. Pared, who was working narcotics enforcement that evening, approached Rattray almost immediately after another person appeared to pass the teen something. The officer searched Rattray’s pockets, then the two scuffled, and Pared can be seen shoving Rattray against a glass door out of view, then down to the sidewalk, the video showed.
In a press conference following the indictment, Newark police director Garry McCarthy criticized Pared's tactics, saying he should have instead made the teen turn around and face the ground before patting him down.
Pared, who was suspended following the incident, was reinstated two weeks ago, his attorney said, and is on modified desk duty without his gun.
His next court appearance is July 6.
