Paterson Cop Charged With Assault, Official Misconduct

PATERSON, NJ — A Paterson police officer faces charges stemming back to a May incident in which he struck a victim multiple times in the face, and submitted a police report with false statements, the Passaic County prosecutor said.

Spencer Finch, 44, of Mahwah, is charged with official misconduct, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and tampering with public records or information.

The Prosecutor's Office said these charges relate back to May 26, when it's alleged that Finch "committed aggravated assault by striking the victim in the face with his hand, hitting the victim multiple times with a flashlight, and kneeing the victim in the face." Finch was on-duty and in uniform at the time he committed the assault, the prosecutor added.

Finch then went on to prepare, sign and submit a police report which contained "several false statements" that described the incident, the prosecutor said.

Official misconduct and aggravated assault each carry a maximum term of ten years in New Jersey State Prison. Possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and tampering with public records or information each carry a maximum term of five years.

Finch is scheduled for a first appearance at the Passaic County Central Judicial Processing Court on Saturday, and the state "intends to file motion for pre-trial detention," according to the prosecutor.

This isn't the first instance of a Paterson officer faces charges for their behavior on the job in recent months.

Two Paterson police officers are facing civil rights and obstruction charges after assaulting a Paterson citizen in December 2020, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced in late April.

Officers Kevin Patino, 29, and Kendry Tineo-Restituyo, 28, both of Paterson, are charged with "depriving a victim of his Constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by law enforcement officers and with filing a false police report," the U.S. Attorney announced.

In that case, like in Finch's, Patino and Tineo-Restituyo are accused of assaulting a victim while on-duty, and then writing a report that contained "numerous false statements and omissions."

On the same day charges were announced against Patino and Tineo-Restituyo, the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office announced that they had assumed oversight of the Paterson Police Department's internal affairs division.

The office will also work with the Attorney General's Office of Public Integrity & Accountability to conduct a historical review of the Paterson Police Department's internal affairs investigations "to determine whether any should be reopened or reinvestigated."

Paterson citizens came out in droves for protests regarding police violence in the summer of 2020 after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. At one of those demonstrations, they also remembered Jameek Lowery, who died in 2019 after he livestreamed an encounter with police in which he asked for water, and for officers not to shoot him.

Lowery died at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center two days later.

Lowery's estate filed a federal lawsuit in July alleging that three Paterson police officers and a St. Joseph's University Medical Center emergency room doctor played a part in the Paterson man's death.

Read more: Jameek Lowery Was Beaten By Police Prior To His Death: Lawsuit