Videos Cause Renewed Look At Bloomfield Police Shooting: Report

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — “I know for a fact I didn’t try to run them cops over.” That’s what a man accused of aggravated assault against four Bloomfield police officers contends happened last year during a traffic stop that erupted in gunfire, a report says.

According to New Jersey News 12, the dispute stems back to a November 2020 incident, when Bloomfield officers carried out a “felony traffic stop” on Jeffrey Sutton, who had multiple open warrants for his arrest at the time. A video shows officers approach the vehicle with guns drawn and tell Sutton to get out, an order he apparently refuses. When an officer tries to break the driver’s side window, he tries to move the car away slowly and escape.

Video footage has since emerged which doesn’t appear to show Sutton make contact with any of the officers, New Jersey News 12 reported.

Read the full article and watch the video here.

However, according to officers, Sutton hit two nearby cars, then accelerated at them while trying to get away. Shots were fired, and a bullet hit Sutton in the arm. He then drove to Orange, where the car was found.

Sutton was apprehended soon afterwards, Tap Into Bloomfield previously reported, also sharing video footage of the incident (see it here).

Sutton was eventually charged with four counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers with a deadly weapon, which he said was unfair.

“The investigation is still with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and active at this time,” Bloomfield Director of Public Safety Samuel DiMaio told Kane In Your Corner, commenting on the ongoing use-of-force probe. “Unfortunately, we at the BPD cannot answer any questions regarding the case.”

According to the Bloomfield Information Project, shooting at moving vehicles is something that is restricted by the Bloomfield police department’s own use of force guidelines, unless there’s an “imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm” and “no other means are available…to avert or eliminate the danger.”

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