A New Jersey man who died after a brief stand-off with police told them he “couldn’t breathe” as they restrained him, newly released bodycam footage shows.
The state Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday released a pair of clips showing 47-year-old John Cassidy’s fatal encounter with law enforcement in Ocean County, which “is under investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability,” officials said in a statement.
“The recordings are being released pursuant to policies established by the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 designed to promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters.”
The incident unfolded on April 19 at a gas station on Route 37 near West End Avenue, after Island Heights police officer Peter Muscarella — on patrol at the time — stopped Cassidy for an expired motor vehicle registration. Upon further investigation, he realized Cassidy had outstanding warrants and moved to take him into custody.
Cassidy tells the officer he only wanted to use the bathroom and that he was going leave, prompting Muscarella to call for backup, the clips shows. When the additional officers arrive on the scene, including Island Heights police officer Dominique D’Amico-Violante and Lt. Paul Rutledge, Cassidy gets back inside his car and refuses to exit.
Cassidy’s mood changes constantly during their interaction, going from calm to outraged to calm again, per the bodycam video. He also revs his car engine and blasts his radio as officers try to convince him to exit his vehicle. At one point, he has a conversation with Muscarella, detailing his interests and hobbies, before additional officers arrive on the scene and he again becomes belligerent.
After about 25 minutes of trying to coax Cassidy out of his car, the officers use an instrument to break the passenger side window and eventually manage to get both doors open. They then start to forcefully pull him from the vehicle, at which point he repeatedly exclaims he can not breathe, bodycam video shows.
After they managed to get Cassidy on the ground, he suffered a medical episode and was provided aid on the scene. He became unresponsive shortly thereafter.
Cassidy was rushed to Community Medical Center in Toms River where he was later pronounced dead at 2:25 p.m.
An investigation into the matter is ongoing.