CARTERET -- The borough police officer accused of beating and bloodying a 16-year-old last week after a brief car chase has been charged with assault after a review of video footage confirmed the teenager's account of the incident, authorities said Friday.

The officer, Joseph Reiman, 31, the brother of the borough mayor, was also charged with three counts of official misconduct for the assault, for failing to activate his body camera and for failing to use "reasonable discretion or restraint" in the amount of force used on the teenager.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office said a video recorded by a camera inside a patrol car on scene captured the May 31 encounter and corroborated the teen's account that he was punched several times in the face after he had already surrendered to police.

The incident was first reported Wednesday by NJ Advance Media.

The investigation found that an ambulance was not called to the scene after the assault, and the teenager was instead put in a patrol car and taken to headquarters, authorities said.



The county will prosecute the case, and the office also has sent a referral to U.S. Attorney's Office of New Jersey to decide if a federal civil rights case should be filed.



The investigation is ongoing, authorities said.

Reiman, who joined the department in 2015, could not be reached for comment. Carteret Police Deputy Chief Dennis McFadden said Thursday that Reiman had been placed on paid leave while the prosecutor's office and borough internal affairs investigate.

Mayor Daniel Reiman, the officer's older brother, could not be reached for comment Friday. The mayor said previously he and borough officials were unable to comment on the specifics of the incident as county and local authorities continue their investigation.

The incident occurred at the corner of Edwin and Bergen streets early May 31 after the unlicensed teen led police on a brief chase before crashing his parent's black sedan into a suspension wire connected to a utility pole.

The teen, whose father allowed his son to be interviewed and photographed on Saturday, claims he stepped out of the car with his hands up, uninjured from the crash that deployed both airbags.

The teenager, who's not being named because he's a minor, claims officer Reiman grabbed him and punched him in his right eye, knocking him on his back. The teen alleges Reiman then kneeled on him and punched him more than a dozen times.

The teen claims another officer kicked him in the face while Reiman handcuffed him.

It was unknown if any footage captured the alleged kick.

Medical records provided by the teen's father as well as a report by emergency medical personnel, both of which contained details of the incident, said the teen tried to run from police after the crash.

But the teen and other witnesses, who could describe the scene but did not see the incident, said the teen was on the ground less than three feet from the crashed car.

Richard Watkins, who lives about 35 feet from where the incident occurred and said he did see the alleged assault, corroborated the teen's account. The teen was hospitalized for about a day and a half.

Craig McCarthy may be reached at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig and on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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