Belmar man's death a mystery

BELMAR – When Theresa Taylor woke the morning of Sept. 5, she had a brother. When Taylor went to bed that night, she did not. What transpired in between is a mystery.

Taylor didn't know it at the time, but her 38-year-old brother, Timothy Harden, died after an incident that unfolded at the Soupergroove Labor Day Festival in Howell, where he was a volunteer.

Two weeks later, she and other family members are still searching for basic answers about the Belmar man's death.

Harden, who worked in construction, suffered severe trauma to the head, among other injuries, according to family members and their attorney.

Event organizers told the family they called police because Harden was acting violent and paranoid at the festival at the Priedaine: NJ Latvian Society Center, but authorities hadn't explained when, where or how Harden died, even though police were among the last to see him alive.

"We have only the questions," said Taylor, his younger sister. "There are really no answers. I don't even know where to begin."

Family members said Harden had no history of mental illness and was in excellent physical health. Five years ago, he was convicted of obstruction of the administration of law, in connection with a March 2010 robbery in Long Branch. He received no probation or jail time.

Harden's death is under investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Professional Responsibility and Bias Crimes Bureau, which looks into officer-involved incidents.

Officials have released few details about the death investigation, but the family's lawyer, Thomas J. Mallon, said prosecutor's office officials told the family it is not being investigated as a bias crime or criminal death,

The family met with prosecutor's office officials Tuesday morning, but received few answers, Mallon said. Investigators told them a security guard was seen punching Harden at the festival, before Harden was turned over to police and taken away in an ambulance.

Late Tuesday, following inquiries by the Asbury Park Press, Monmouth County Prosecutor's spokesman Charles Webster released a brief statement. it said that Howell Township police responded to a 911 call at 2:52 p.m., on Sept. 5, 2015 — summoned by a report of a disorderly person at the festival.

Police, first aid and paramedics responded to the scene, where they encountered the disorderly person, later identified as Harden, who became unresponsive, the statement said. Harden was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 4:14 p.m. Webster said the circumstances remain under investigation.

Exactly what transpired in Harden's final moments is unclear. Mallon said a festival volunteer told him she saw a security guard punch Harden and later saw an officer elbow Harden in the face as Harden fought with them.

The family ordered an independent autopsy of Harden's body.

"It's too long to wait to get this type of information," Mallon told a Press reporter.

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Allan Griffin, who owns the Bayonne-based Griffin Security LLC, told the Press that one of the two security guards working the festival tried to calm Harden, to no avail. Griffin said the guard told him that Harden swung at the guard and punched him under his left eye.

Griffin said the guard, whom he identified only as Brandon, said he tackled Harden to the ground, but Harden was strong and almost broke free. When police officers arrived, Griffin said, Harden started fighting with them. He said at least three officers held Harden down.

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“I doubt very highly that my guard laid a hand on anybody,” Griffin said. He added that the guard submitted a statement and photographs of his eye injury to the prosecutor’s office.

Harden lived with his grandmother, Mary T. Green, in Belmar and took care of her. She knew he left the house that morning to volunteer at the festival and expected him back later that day.

Family members learned about the trouble at the festival from an event organizer.

Mallon's witness, whom he did not name, said her view of what happened was obstructed when an ambulance pulled up.

Efforts to reach the Soupergroove festival organizers were unsuccessful.

There was more confusion on the day Harden died. Green, the grandmother, received a phone call the day of the festival from Belmar police, asking her to call Howell police. According to Mallon and family members, Green was told her grandson was in police custody. An officer—she doesn't remember who — asked whether Harden had a medical condition and mentioned he had been fighting with police.

Since then, the prosecutor's office told the family that Harden did not die in police custody. Webster also told a Press reporter Harden did not die in police custody and that he was never arrested.

Searching for clues

When Taylor first spoke with a detective, she was told Harden had been in an "altered" state of mind prior to his death. They were waiting for a toxicology report for more details.

"That's what I'm supposed to just tell my family and my daughters? That he just died?" Taylor said.

Under a pilot program launched by the prosecutor's office in May, five officers were outfitted with body cameras. It is unclear whether any of the responding officers had body cameras, but authorities told the family there is no video footage available of the incident.

Mallon expressed concern over the lack of information family members have received.

"The longer they sit on this kind of information, the longer it seems like they're covering up something," Mallon added. "To make (the family) wait and wonder what happened, it seems like they're getting their story together."

He said he hopes the independent autopsy and toxicology report can help explain what happened.

"This is very difficult," Taylor said. "He's my little brother. We've been through so much together."

Steph Solis: 732-643-4043; ssolis@gannettnj.com