CAMDEN — A Winslow Township police office has agreed to forfeit his job after pleading guilty to simple assault in a May 3 incident where a man subdued with a chemical agent later died of traumatic asphyxia, Camden County Prosecutor Warren W. Faulk said Friday.



Ptl. Sean Richards, 38 of Winslow Township, was directed by Superior Court Judge Thomas Brown to be in probation for one year. Richards agreed he would never seek to expunge the record of his plea. I



The assault plea stems from Richards' efforts to detain and take into custody a Waterford man, Keith Briscoe, 38, on May 3 in front of a Wawa in the 100 block of Cross Keys Road in Winslow.



Richards approached an individual later identified as Briscoe as he drank a soda and smoked a cigarette about 8:30 a.m. and asked him to move on. The officer went into the business to buy a hot chocolate, and when he came back outside, the man was still there.



He asked for the man's name and where he was going. Briscoe identified himself and said he was to go to an office of Steininger Behavioral Care Services, a nearby mental health treatment facility. Richards continued to question Briscoe, and finally ordered Briscoe to get into a police cruiser so he could drive him to Steininger.



When Briscoe refused to get into Richards' police cruiser, the officer attempted to handcuff Briscoe. He resisted, and civilians in the area came to assist Richards. The officer called for backup and up to five officers also attempted to subdue Briscoe. During the struggle, Richards sprayed Briscoe with Oleoresin Capsicum spray. Approximately eight people, three civilians and five officers were involved in the effort to restrain Briscoe.



In the process, Briscoe suffered traumatic asphyxia and died. Subsequently, the Camden County Medical Examiner determined Briscoe's death was a result of police's efforts to subdue him and called the death a homicide.



Richards had received no complaints about Briscoe's behavior prior to confronting him, and Briscoe did nothing during their initial encounter that warranted Richards' effort to take Briscoe into custody, said Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the prosecutor. When Richards attempted to cuff Briscoe, he committed an illegal arrest and that action was the basis for the simple assault charge, Laughlin said.



The decision to pursue legal proceedings against Richards came after a review of statements from the participants and witnesses, security camera videotape of activities inside the store prior to the incident, photographs of the scene, the autopsy and toxicology reports and information supplied by the Briscoe family and others, Laughlin said.



Richards was not charged in connection with Briscoe's death because in New Jersey there is no right to resist arrest, even if the arrest is illegal, Laughlin explained. Once Briscoe resisted being taken into custody, police had the right to take actions necessary to restrain him. There is no evidence to indicate the police used excessive or illegal force in taking Briscoe into custody, the spokesman said.



Richards should have never attempted to arrest Briscoe, and in doing so he set into motion events that led to a man's death, according to Laughlin.



"Sean Richards' extremely poor judgment and abuse of his authority as a police officer contributed to Keith Briscoe's death," Faulk said prior to the hearing Friday. "This plea ensures that Richards will be forever barred from holding such a position of authority again."

