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Dana Garcia, left, sister of Kenwin Garcia, is consoled by her attorney Harvey Rothman, as she attempts to speak about her late brother during a news conference outside Morristown Memorial Hospital in 2008.

(Star-Ledger file photo)

TRENTON — The state Attorney General's Office has agreed to pay a total of $500,000 to settle claims that two State Police troopers used excessive force and contributed to the 2008 death of a Newark man in their custody, The Star-Ledger has learned.

The settlement comes two years after the father of Kenwin Garcia, 25, sued troopers Victor Pereira and David Jenkins, claiming they beat his son and caused severe injuries after his arrest in Hanover Township. Garcia died a week later at Morristown Memorial Hospital.

The Attorney General’s Office never announced the settlement when it was reached in February, but it was discovered in a review of court records last week when The Star-Ledger was researching a separate case in which Pereira was recently charged with aggravated assault in an unrelated matter.

A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, Paul Loriquet, confirmed the settlement Thursday. In addition to the state’s payment, the Hanover Township Police Department, which also responded to the incident, agreed to pay $200,000. Neither police agency admitted any wrongdoing.

Mitchell Perlmutter, an attorney for Garcia’s father, said the younger Garcia "should still be alive today."

The incident took place in July 2008, when Pereira spotted Garcia walking along Route 287 in Hanover Township. The Attorney General’s Office subsequently said that after Pereira stopped Garcia, he learned the man was wanted on an warrant for failing to appear in Newark Municipal Court on charges he stole candy and jumped a Newark Penn Station turnstile in 2006.

The office said Garcia — a former nursing home worker with no criminal record — was handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car, but became belligerent and kicked out a rear side window. He was then handcuffed by the legs, pepper sprayed and placed in a second patrol car.

Garcia then arched his back and drove his head through the rear driver-side window, the office said, causing him to collapse. Garcia was taken to Morristown Memorial, where he later died after doctors recommended his family take him off of life support.

The incident was investigated by the attorney general’s shooting response team, but its findings, as well as autopsy reports and information on whether any troopers were disciplined, have never been publicly disclosed.

Garcia’s father, Kelvin, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in state Superior Court in 2010 against the troopers and other officers involved.

An attorney for Pereira, Charles Sciarra, predicted at the time that the family would have little success in court because the troopers had been exonerated in a criminal investigation when a grand jury declined to return an indictment.

But the trouble for Pereira, 33, of Lodi, who has been on the force nearly eight years, mounted this month when he was charged with aggravated assault for allegedly breaking his cousin’s jaw, according to an arrest report obtained by The Star-Ledger under the Open Public Records Act.

Lodi police records showed that officers were dispatched about 3:50 a.m. Aug. 3 to the home of Jorge Branco, who was bleeding from his mouth and had blood on his clothes. Branco initially told police he was attacked by a group of unknown men, but was unable to elaborate because of his injuries.

Once in an ambulance, however, Branco told police he had been drinking with friends and family when a "minor argument" occurred, according to the report. He said the dispute was settled and everyone "went their separate ways."

But when Branco returned home, he said, he heard noises in his yard and went out to investigate. He said he found his cousin, Pereira, with whom he had had an argument earlier, and the two got into a fight, according to the report.

Branco said he called for an ambulance after his cousin, who was off duty, fled after leaving him injured.

The arrest report said Branco was hesitant about identifying Pereira, but later provided his name. He told police he did not want to press charges because it was a "family problem."

At that point he was taken to Hoboken University Medical Center for treatment.

Pereira was charged Aug. 9 by Lodi police. A representative of Lodi Municipal Court said the case was transferred to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office because it is an indictable offense, but a spokeswoman for the office did not return several requests for comment.

A spokesman for the State Police, Sgt. 1st Class Brian Polite, said Pereira was suspended without pay Aug. 13 pending the outcome of the criminal case and an internal investigation.

Pereira — who according to state payroll records earned $91,131 last year in salary and other payments, excluding overtime — could not be reached for comment.

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