Lawrence Cops Trespassed In State Park Amid Pandemic: Prosecutor

LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP, NJ — Two Lawrence Township police officers have been charged with meeting in a state park for unofficial business in violation of Gov. Phil Murphy’s order that closed state parks to the public amid the coronavirus pandemic, authorities announced on Thursday.

A third officer has been charged falsifying documentation about his whereabouts, but that charge wasn’t related to Murphy’s executive order, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri.

The charges came as a result of an internal affairs investigation after Lawrence Township police contacted the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office earlier this month, according to authorities. All three officers have been suspended from the police department without pay.

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Officer Hector Nieves, 44, falsely documented his location in official records 19 times between March 21 and May 11, according to the prosecutor’s office. Officer Liubove Bjorklund, 32, is charged with falsifying her location in official meal break documents 11 times between March 20 and May 4, according to authorities.

Authorities allege they entered the New Jersey Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park in Princeton on April 23 while the park was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic for reasons not related to their positions as police officers.

Nieves also altered the view of the camera in his assigned patrol vehicle so that it did not capture him covertly meeting with an off-duty female police officer, authorities said. In one incident, the camera’s position was altered so that it would not record them meeting or entering the closed park, thereby concealing the unlawful conduct, according to authorities.

Officer Timothy Wallace, 28, is charged with falsely documenting his location in an official record on May 4, 2020.

Nieves was charged with falsifying government records, tampering with records, and violation of Governor’s Executive Order No. 118. Bjorklund was charged with falsifying government records and violation of Governor’s Executive Order No. 118. Wallace was charged with falsifying government records. All three officers were served summons complaints Thursday morning.

Tampering with records is a fourth-degree charge. Violation of an executive order and falsifying government records are disorderly persons offenses.