OAKLYN – The borough has agreed to a $250,000 settlement of a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations by two police officers, a court record shows.

The payment ends a court case brought by Natalie Diaz, a Collingswood woman who contends she was the victim of excessive force in a February 2016 incident.

Oaklyn admits no wrongdoing in settling the suit, according to the settlement.

The lawsuit contends Diaz was bitten by an Oaklyn K9 and assaulted by borough officers during an arrest outside her Collingswood apartment building.

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The suit says the incident began when Diaz visited a 7-Eleven on the White Horse Pike in Oaklyn.

Diaz, who could not find a marked parking space, left her vehicle near a parking lot entrance, the suit says.

"As she was coming out of the store, a number of people, apparently including a (borough) police officer, Jayne Jones, were yelling for her to move her car,” the suit says.

It contends Jones followed Diaz along the pike to the Parkview apartment complex, where the officer ordered the woman from her car.

The suit says Diaz "did not immediately comply with the order," saying she was "frightened and disoriented."

It says a second Oaklyn officer, Matthew Olivieri, arrived at the scene around that time with his K9 Enzo.

According to the lawsuit, Olivieri brought the dog to the driver’s side of Diaz’ vehicle “and shouted that he was going to release Enzo."

The suit contends Olivieri released the K9 “almost immediately” and the dog attacked Diaz, "tearing holes into her clothing and ripping her leg open."

The suit contends the dog had to "forcibly removed" from Diaz, who was "forced face down on the concrete, handcuffed and placed under arrest."

The suit, filed in February 2018, alleged Diaz was the victim of an illegal stop and search, among other constitutional violations.

The woman’s attorney, Thomas Gossé of Haddon Heights, declined to comment on the Feb. 3 settlement.

An attorney for the borough could not be reached for comment.

The settlement was provided to the Courier-Post by John Paff, an open-records advocate from Somerset County.

Jim Walsh is a free-range reporter who’s been roaming around South Jersey for decades. His interests include crime, the courts, economic development and being first with breaking news. Reach him at jwalsh@gannettnj.com or look for him in traffic.

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