This is the second person arrested during the rally over the fatal shooting of Barry Deloatch in the Middlesex County city.
Holding photos of Barry Deloatch people protest on the corner of Handy St and Throop Ave in New Brunswick. Deloatch, 47, was shot and killed New Brunswick police.NEW BRUNSWICK — New Brunswick police arrested a man Thursday for allegedly punching a driver who was trying to pass through demonstrators protesting the Sept. 22 fatal police shooting of a city resident.
This was the second person arrested during a rally over the fatal shooting of Barry Deloatch, 46, in an alley behind 105 Throop Ave. Both men who were arrested remain in the Middlesex County jail in North Brunswick.
Andre Showell, 47, of North Brunswick, was arrested about 6:24 p.m. Thursday on charges he hit emergency service dispatcher in the face with a water bottle, police Lt. J.T. Miller said. About 50 demonstrators were in the street in front of the city train station, Miller said.
He said the 47-year-old victim was going to work at the nearby Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital when he was stopped by traffic.
The driver tried to get the attention of the demonstrators to get through the crowd when Showell approached and assaulted him, Miller said. He said the driver was taken to the hospital where he was treated for a facial laceration.
This was the latest of several demonstrations since the shooting, and New Brunswick police have been present at each rally, Miller said.
Showell was charged with aggravated assault on medical personnel and failure to disperse, the lieutenant said. Showell was being held today on bail at the Middlesex County jail in North Brunswick.
At 10:40 a.m. last Saturday, Michael White, 50, was arrested in a rally at the same intersection and charged with aggravated assault for allegedly punching the driver of a Middlesex County minibus, police said.
White was also charged with aggravated assault on an officer for allegedly spiting on police, and charged with refusing to be fingerprinted, Miller said. White was also being held at the jail today, officials said.
Demonstrators have stages several largely peaceful rallies and marches since the shooting.
Authorities said that about 12:10 a.m. on Sept. 22, Deloatch ran from officers who approached him and two other men on Throop Avenue. Deloatch ran down the alley and two officers followed.
Authorities said Deloatch suffered a gunshot wound to his left side and aorta.
Relatives of Deloatch said a witness told them that he was shot in the back.
The two officers have been placed on adminstrative leave. Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce stated investigators recovered a bullet from the shooting scene, and the bullet and the officer's gun have been sent to outside lab, along with other items, for examination.
Relatives of Deloatch have called for an agency outside Middlesex County to investigate the case.