No charges for NJ police in fatal shooting

A grand jury in Cumberland County has voted against filing charges against two police officers in the fatal shooting of a man who defied orders by stepping out of a auto during a traffic stop with his hands raised.

The incident took place last December after Bridgeton police officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley pulled a vehicle over for failing to come to a complete stop at an intersection.

But Reid, according to the statement from the prosecutor’s office on the grand jury decision, told Days he was getting out and onto the ground before opening the passenger side door.

The auto was pulled over normally, but when Days walked over to explain the stop and ask the driver, Leroy Tutt, for a driver’s license, he drew his weapon and pointed it at Reid, screaming profanities and instructing Reid not to move or reach for anything. Days shouted repeatedly and profanely for Reid, who was the passenger, to put his hands up and not move.

Shapiro’s investigation mentions that at the vehicle stop, Days recognized Reid, 36, from previous interactions with law enforcement – a 2014 incident in which he resisted arrest, and another account in which a 15-year-old Reid was said to have fired shots at state police in a Buena Vista Township holdup.

Reid had been arrested six times by Bridgeton police since 2009 on allegations of making terroristic threats, harassment, burglary, obstruction, marijuana possession and stalking, according to police records. “I’m not reaching for nothing, bro”.

The jury decided not to indict the two officers named in the shooting on Wednesday, further igniting conversations over the use of deadly force in traffic stops involving Black people across the nation.

The lawyer said Friday that the family was saddened by a Cumberland County grand jury’s decision not to indict the two Bridgeton Police Department officers.

Hudson said his group, National Awareness Alliance, will demand an investigation of the case with the United States Department Of Justice Civil Rights Division.

Both officers have been placed on leave while prosecutors investigate.

Lawanda Reid has since filed a civil lawsuit against the Prosecutor’s Office, the City of Bridgeton, former police chief Mark Ott and Webb-McRae. She also reached a tentative settlement against the county for $340,000 for abuse Jerame Reid had earlier said he suffered in prison.

Reid’s widow, Lawanda Reid, told NJ.com that she’s “disgusted” by the grand jury’s decision. “I’m embarrassed to be a citizen of Bridgeton”.