Six days after a trooper ticketed him for speeding in February and refused to cut him a break, Assemblyman Nelson Albano wrote a scathing letter to the head of the State Police.

The lawmaker claimed the trooper, Randy Pangborn, targeted him on his way to the Statehouse, refused to accept his temporary vehicle registration, requested backup, and had other troopers box in his car. He said he was "humiliated, embarrassed and disrespected as a legislator."

"There was absolutely no reason to treat me like a criminal and detain two other troopers from public safety while trooper Pangborn conducted his charade," Albano wrote from his Assembly office to State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes, requesting an internal investigation.

But a video of the traffic stop, captured by a camera inside the trooper's patrol car and recently obtained by The Star-Ledger, tells a different story from the one Albano described.

The trooper was respectful, calm, never raised his voice and had the lawmaker on his way in just eight minutes. Pangborn never rejected the temporary registration, and even apologized for writing the ticket. When Albano asked for a break, he politely told him to call the court.

A spokesman for the State Police, Lt. Stephen Jones, said dispatch records indicated Pangborn did not request backup. Two other patrol cars were at the scene, the video shows, but they stayed only briefly.

The lawmaker's complaint was first disclosed by The Star-Ledger in April. The newspaper then requested the video under the Open Public Records Act, but the State Police refused to release it. It was made public in October, after the newspaper threatened to sue.

The video, combined with statements Albano made when The Star-Ledger first inquired about the stop, show many of the allegations he made against the trooper were either false or unfounded.

Albano, a Democrat from Cumberland County, did not return several requests for comment. A spokesman for Assembly Democrats, Tom Hester Jr., said the lawmaker withdrew his complaint April 13 — nearly two months after sending it, and one day after The Star-Ledger questioned him about it.

"This all happened the same month that the man who killed Assemblyman Albano’s son was released from jail and the Assemblyman had a heart attack," Hester said in a statement. "Assemblyman Albano apologized and paid the fine and will have no further comment on this issue."

A day after a Star-Ledger report on his complaint, on April 16, Albano apologized for giving the impression he expected special treatment. But until Friday, he had not disclosed that he had withdrawn the complaint, and told the newspaper in April he had asked the State Police to investigate who leaked it.

In response to Albano’s allegations, Pangborn filed a counter complaint earlier this year claiming the lawmaker, a member of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee, put his career in limbo by initiating a baseless internal investigation because he refused to throw out the ticket.

The trooper also alleged that after the stop, the largest State Police union pressured him to make the ticket disappear as a favor to a "personal friend." The union has denied involvement.

The State Police said Friday they had concluded their internal investigation into Albano’s claims that the speeding ticket was undeserved and determined them to be unfounded.

THE TRAFFIC STOP

At 1:13 p.m. Feb. 21, Albano was pulled over for going 71 mph in a 55 mph zone on Route 29 just before the tunnel heading north into Trenton. The video shows his silver SUV rolling to a stop in the left-hand shoulder and the trooper approaching the car about a minute later.

A few short portions of audio at the beginning of the stop were redacted by the State Police because the trooper relayed personal information such as Albano’s license plate.

"Good afternoon," Pangborn said. "License, registration and insurance card, please."

The trooper asked for the paper registration, but Albano said he did not receive it yet.

"No paperwork with it, sir?" Pangborn asks.

"Just the thing that’s on the back window," Albano replied.

"OK," Pangborn said. "I got you at 71, it’s a 55."

"I actually thought it was 65, I apologize," Albano said.

"OK, stay in the vehicle please," Pangborn said.

At some point, another patrol car pulled behind Pangborn, the video shows, and a third pulled in front of Albano. Jones, the State Police spokesman, said no back up was called but troopers routinely stop if they see another on the side of the road to make sure everything is okay.

After the other patrol cars had been there about 90 seconds, Pangborn radioed the troopers and told them he was fine and they left, the video shows. A few minutes after that, he returned to Albano’s vehicle.

"All right, sir, a little fast, sorry about that," Pangborn said. "Ah, 71 in a 55, you need to contact court, number’s on the back, they’ll explain how to take care of that, all right?"

Albano then tried to talk his way out of the ticket. On the video, he can be heard telling Pangborn he was elected legislator of the year by the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, which honored the lawmaker last year.

Although everything the trooper said was captured by a microphone on his uniform, most of what Albano said is inaudible. But he told The Star-Ledger in April, "I remember saying, yes, ‘Can you cut me a break? I’ve always supported the State Police, I was elected as legislator of the year because of what I have done supporting the police, can’t you cut me a break?’"

The video shows Pangborn politely declined the lawmaker’s request.

"Well, you know, you have to contact court and then we can just go through there, OK sir?" Pangborn said before returning to his patrol car. Albano pulled away moments later.

DIFFERENT STORY

Six days after the traffic stop, on Feb. 27, Albano sent a letter on official letterhead from his Assembly office requesting an internal investigation of the traffic stop and Pangborn’s conduct. But the stop he described was different from what the video showed.

Albano said he told the trooper about his temporary registration on the back window but Pangborn "insisted I needed a registration card."

"At that time, two other troopers blocked me in, one in front and another in back," Albano wrote to the State Police superintendent, Fuentes. "I spoke to the trooper with utmost respect and professional courtesy. Not receiving the same from the trooper."

He went on: "I was humiliated, embarrassed and disrespected as a Legislator as some of my colleagues drove past. Why would a trooper call for backup on a Legislator?"

Albano said he felt he was "singled out intentionally by the trooper, neglected to give professional courtesy and detained from state business at the Statehouse. I am requesting an internal investigation into this incident and the troopers (sic) conduct."

"I believe this trooper was, and is, retaliating against any legislator because of the changes in health care and pension reform," he said.

But when asked by The Star-Ledger about the stop in April, Albano admitted he had no evidence to back up his claim. He was not late to the governor’s budget address that day, opposed the health and pension changes, and said the retaliation claim was only a guess.

He also said he was told Pangborn stopped another lawmaker that day, but issued only a warning. He declined to identify that lawmaker, but said that since legislators have special license plates, he felt he was being singled out.

He told the newspaper the trooper was disrespectful "by the tone of his voice."

In his counter complaint, Pangborn said he feared the internal investigation prompted by Albano would drag on for years, was intended as punishment and could thwart a promotion.

"I believe that my reluctance to ‘take care’ of Albano’s ticket is the basis for the internal (complaint) against me," Pangborn wrote in his complaint.

Pangborn did not return a message seeking comment on the video of the traffic stop.

Related coverage:

• Controversy surrounding South Jersey legislator's traffic stop leads to internal police investigation

• N.J. assemblyman apologizes for requesting special treatment for speeding ticket

• Editorial: Ethics committee should investigate lawmaker's pressuring of trooper after ticket