Pictured is Jerame C. Reid, 36, of Millville - the man who was fatally shot by Bridgeton police officers Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014, at the intersection of Henry Street and South Avenue, following a motor vehicle stop. (Submitted Photo)

BRIDGETON — The claims: Unfounded drug searches, pepper spraying a handcuffed man and the failure to follow proper protocol when investigating an armed robbery.

The outcomes: Dismissed or settled at a later date. Police work is dangerous, the city's chief said, but the two officers at the center of last month's fatal shooting were no strangers to city residents, sources said.

"Officer Days' false accusations have caused me to spend an unnecessary amount of time (7 days) stressing in Cumberland County Jail and loss of time out of my life and my children's lives," wrote Tarrion Milledge in a Dec. 9, 2014 complaint lodged against Officer Braheme Days.

On the evening of Dec. 30, Days, 34, who is black, and Bridgeton police Officer Roger Worley, 38, who is white, pulled over a car on South Avenue. Inside was passenger Jerame Reid, a 36-year-old Seabrook resident who is also black.

Reid, who spent 13 years in prison on attempted murder and other charges for shooting at New Jersey state troopers in Atlantic County when he was a teenager, was shot and killed during the stop.

Police reported that a weapon was found in the car. Leroy Tutt, the driver of the vehicle involved in the incident, has not been charged. Police have not said why the car was stopped.

Some current and former Cumberland County residents have spoken out against Days specifically and video footage of a previous incident shows him in an altercation after a separate car stop.

Via an Open Public Record's Act request, a review of nine municipal court complaints — all of which were dismissed — show numerous instances of people not understanding why they were stopped, searched or charged.

"He rides around all day bothering people for no reason," Fayette Street resident Shane Costin said of Days in a complaint filed last September.

Ronnie Hill, a Mount Vernon Street resident, said in court documents that Days allegedly stopped and handcuffed him "for no reason."

Wilbert Pace, of South Pine Street, states in a claim that lists Days as a defendant that he was complying with police orders when he was cuffed, put face-down on the ground and hit with pepper spray, which required medical treatment in jail.

Bridgeton police Chief Mark Ott said Thursday police investigate complaints from the community whether or not they appear valid. "We accept those complaints and investigate them to the best of our ability."

Days joined the Bridgeton force in 2012. He was introduced to city council by Ott and Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae, who said she knew Days through another leadership position in the community and commended him for his "excellent character."

Webb-McRae has recused herself from the investigation, according to Cumberland County First Assistant Prosecutor Harold Shapiro. Ott said he believed Days had been a detective with the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office prior to being hired in Bridgeton. The Cape May office could not immediately confirm that.

Worley transferred from the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office before joining the ranks in Bridgeton in 2003, according to documents from the state Department of Personnel.

Worley was the subject of two 2010 disciplinary actions which were settled two years later. The cases resulted in forfeiture of 48 hours of vacation time from his 2011 allotment in lieu of a suspension.

One incident involved a Spanish-speaking armed robbery victim who approached Worley and another officer to report that the assailant pulled out a gun and threatened to kill him. The two officers reportedly went on foot patrol to locate the robber without informing senior officers or following the correct reporting procedures.

In the second incident, variations of the racist term "cracker" were used by both Worley and another officer, according to a disciplinary action document. That's "prohibited racially discriminatory language," state Department of Personnel documents note.

"Neither this agency nor I stand for unprofessional conduct. As far as those incidents go, nothing similar has come up," Ott said of the investigations.

Both Worley and Days are members of the police force's tactical response team which is tasked with patrolling Bridgeton's high crime areas — including the neighborhood immediately surrounding the area where the Dec. 30 shooting took place.

Both have also been credited for acts such as rescuing sleeping people from a house fire last May, tracking down a man late last month who allegedly held up an NJ Transit bus and recently recovering at least three illegal weapons through motor vehicle stops.

Both officers are currently on paid administrative leave pending results of the investigation of the Reid shooting. Ott and department officials stand behind the two.

"I would say that both officers have shown an ability to come to work each day and actually go out and do police work. These are trying times to be a police officer," Ott said, adding that it was only last August when city officers were shot at while probing a burglary that took place near the scene of a fatal drive-by.

Ott said he always worries about police officers being in the line of fire and that fear of a city officer being shot and killed has left him in "constant dread."

In video footage that purportedly shows Days spraying a handcuffed suspect with what appears to be pepper spray, those recording and others at the scene call out Days again and again by name.

"Why you macing me?" the victim asks while others call him a "crooked cop." Attempts to reach the person who recorded the video were unsuccessful.

Ott declined to speak about the video on Thursday, citing the ongoing investigation.

In court documents, Percy Patrick, of Division Street, claims Days approached him and told him to wait so he could run a warrant check. The man claimed the stop was illegal and went to walk away when Days "sprayed him" in the eyes. It's unclear if it was the same event shown on the video.

"We all wish there could be neighborhood walking beat officers in our neighborhoods, but city budgets, which are made up of taxes, no longer support such ideals," Ott said.

The Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office, which is investigating the use of deadly force following the Dec. 30 incident, has only said that the investigation is ongoing. During the stop, a handgun was "revealed," but no further information has been provided.

&lt;a href="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1502703/complaints-filed-against-bridgeton-police.pdf"&gt;Complaints filed against Bridgeton police officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley (PDF)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;a href="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1502703/complaints-filed-against-bridgeton-police.txt"&gt;Complaints filed against Bridgeton police officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley (Text)&lt;/a&gt;

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Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@southjerseymedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.