Daniel Nee
A Tuckerton police officer
found himself behind bars this week after being arrested on official misconduct
and aggravated assault charges for letting his K9 attack and bite a Barnegat
woman, and then falsifying reports to cover up the incident.
The charges stem from a Jan. 29
traffic stop in Tuckerton during which the 57-year-old woman allegedly failed
to stop after Cpl. Justin Cherry of the Tuckerton Borough Police Department
activated his overhead lights.
The woman, according to a
statement from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, 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 by prosecutors
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," the statement said.
Cherry’s bail was set at
$15,000 cash by Superior Court Judge Francis R. Hodgson, Jr. Cherry posted bail
and was released pending further court proceedings.
In 2011, according to a report
in the Press of Atlantic City, Cherry was cleared by authorities in the fatal
shooting of a Tuckerton man after he allegedly threatened Cherry and another
officer with a knife.