Disabled Woman Sues Police, Citing Civil Rights Violations

A disabled woman has filed a lawsuit in Newark federal court against seven Long Branch police officers and the city, alleging that her civil rights and the rights of her now-deceased companion were violated, according to the woman's attorneys.

The alleged incident took place at a Long Branch MetroPCS store in November 2016.

According to the complaint, Mariana Ramon, 54, of Long Branch and her companion, Hector Mejia, went to the Metro PCS store on Broadway Street in Long Branch regarding a phone Mejia had just purchased.

After experiencing issues with a Metro PCS employee, Ramon called Long Branch Police officers for assistance. When the officers arrived, they stated that they would not get involved and would not make a report.

Efforts to obtain comment from Long Branch officials were not immediately successful.

When Ramon began to write down the names of the responding officers and made a

comment to Mejia about her civil rights, Long Branch Police Officer D. Perez allegedly grabbed the
pen out of Ramon’s hands and eventually arrested Ramon and Mejia, according to the lawsuit.

When Mejia explained that Ramon was disabled and that she needed to take care of her disabled child, Long Branch Police Officer D. Stone allegedly punched Mejia in the face, threw him to the ground, and then placed him in handcuffs, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint alleges that Long Branch Police officers continued to act unlawfully toward Ramon and Mejia even after they were both wrongfully arrested. Officer Perez allegedly slammed Ramon’s head on the door of a police car, and punched and kicked her even though Ramon was still handcuffed, according to the lawsuit.

Perez then allegedly dragged Ramon out of a police car by pulling her hair. Long Branch Police Officer V. Roselli later threatened to take Ramon’s child away if she did not cooperate, according to the lawsuit.

As a result of their encounter with Long Branch Police officers, Ms. Ramon and Mr. Mejia were
changed with one count of improper behavior/disorderly conduct and one count of resisting arrest. Only the improper behavior/disorderly conduct charge made it to criminal court. However, that charge was dismissed against both Ramon and Mejia, according to the lawsuit.

“Police officers’ use of excessive force against citizens is bad enough, but unlawfully arresting people on trumped-up criminal charges as we alleged happened here is particularly shocking,” said Conrad J. Benedetto of The Law Offices of Conrad J. Benedetto, and one of the lawyers for Ms. Ramon. “The allegations in Ms. Ramon’s complaint should serve as a wake-up call for the City of Long Branch that there appear to be problems at the Long Branch Police Department.”

Dan Hubbard photo