Bayonne Police car

A Bayonne man has filed a federal lawsuit against the Bayonne Police Department, claiming that he was unlawfully arrested twice within the past three years and that, in one instance, officers lied about him having a BB gun.

(Journal File Photo)

BAYONNE -- A Bayonne man has filed a federal lawsuit against the Bayonne Police Department, claiming that he was unlawfully arrested twice within the past three years and that, in one instance, officers lied about him having a BB gun.

Paul Dabrowski, 26, filed the lawsuit on June 30 over two of his arrests -- one in 2011 where he was charged with aggravated assault and another one in 2012 where he was charged with unlawful possession of a BB gun.

The events leading up to the lawsuit began on May 23, 2011, when Bayonne police officers responded to an aggravated assault in the area of 17th Street and Avenue C in Bayonne, according to the lawsuit.

Police found that a man had been stabbed, according to a memo addressed to a Superior Court judge by Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Shane S. Paugh that was provided to The Jersey Journal.

Bayonne Det. Carlos Bentacourth later saw the victim at the Jersey City Medical Center and the victim identified Dabrowksi and another man from a book of mug shots as the men who attacked him, the lawsuit said.

The victim later told the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office that he was heavily medicated when he made those identifications, according to the HCPO memo.

On June 2, Bentacourth swore out a complaint charging Dabrowski with aggravated assault and other offenses for the May 23 incident, the suit said. Dabrowski was subsequently arrested.

But in October, when the HCPO met with the victim, the victim said Dabrowski did not attack him, according to the HCPO memo. He said the same thing when he testified before a grand jury on Oct. 25, the memo stated.

Even though the victim himself stated that Dabrowski didn't attack him, Bentacourth testified to the grand jury that the victim had identified Dabrowski as an attacker. The grand jury then returned an indictment against Dabrowski.

"Based on ... Bentacourth's testimony, his theory not contained in the evidence, the grand jurors billed the case," the HCPO memo stated.

In the memo dated March 21, 2012, Paugh asked the Superior Court to dismiss the indictment. About three weeks later, the court granted that request, dismissing the indictment in its entirety.

Just a few days later, Dabrowski was arrested again in Bayonne, this time on the charge of unlawful possession of a BB gun, a charge the lawsuit says was fabricated in retaliation for the dismissal of Dabrowski's previous indictment.

On April 11, 2012, Bayonne Det. Matthew Lindquist and Officer Joseph Saroshinsky were on patrol when they noticed Dabrowski standing on the corner of 53rd Street and Avenue C in Bayonne, according to a statement of facts that accompanied Superior Court Judge Adam E. Jacobs' decision to suppress evidence in the BB gun case.

In the statement of facts, Jacobs gave this account:

The officers said Dabrowski attempted to evade them, but Dabrowski said he never had the chance to do that, as the officers unexpectedly stopped their unmarked car directly in front of him.

At that point, police said they asked Dabrowski if they could run a warrant check, to which he consented.

Officers said they then noticed that Dabrowski was "blading," or angling his body so that police couldn't see his back, he said. According to the officers, Dabrowski's "blading" caused them to fear for their safety, and they turned him around and placed his hands against the police vehicle.

Lindquist said he then saw a BB gun protruding from the small of Dabrowski's back, and that the outline of the weapon was visible because Dabrowski was wearing only a white T-shirt and jeans, he said, according to the statement of facts. The officers then seized the weapon and arrested Dabrowski.

Dabrowski had a different account of what happened. He said that as soon as the officers stopped him, they told him "We are going to f*** with you every time we see you," Jacobs said in the statement of facts.

Dabrowski was arrested again, but he maintains that he never had a BB gun and that the officers themselves produced one to use as evidence against him.

In his legal opinion granting the motion to suppress the evidence the police obtained, Jacobs had a number of issues with the police account of the incident.

Based on evidence submitted to the court, Jacobs found "incontrovertible proof" that Dabrowski was wearing a black T-shirt rather than a white T-shirt, as Lindquist testified. He also found that Dabrowksi was "undoubtedly wearing a rather heavy winter jacket that would have obstructed the view of his lower back, even when leaning forward."

The black T-shirt and black jacket were noted on a property receipt from the Hudson County jail in Kearny at the time Dabrowski was booked by the police, according to the lawsuit.

The judge also noted that Lindquist testified it was about 70 degrees outside at the time Dabrowski was arrested, but records show it was 45 degrees at the time.

In the end, the judge declined to rule on Dabrowski's claim that police fabricated evidence. However, he granted the motion to suppress evidence on the grounds that the officers did not have a "sufficient articulable suspicion" to justify stopping Dabrowski in the first place. Thus, he said, they couldn't use any evidence they found afterward.

"We insisted on a fingerprint analysis and a DNA analysis on the weapon, but that was never conducted, mainly because the matter had been dismissed prior to trial," Jeffrey Garrigan, Dabrowski's attorney in the case, said.

In his legal opinion, Jacobs also wrote that Lindquist and Saroshinsky's "intention from the outset" was to stop and frisk Dabrowski, rather than that becoming necessary after they allegedly started fearing for their safety.

He also said he found Dabrowski's testimony that the officers said they'd "f*** with him" every time they saw him to be "compelling."

The lawsuit, which is filed against the officers involved in Dabrowski's arrest as well as the Bayonne Police Department and the city of Bayonne, does not specify how much money is being sought.

When contacted about the lawsuit, the Bayonne Law Department and the Bayonne Police Department declined to comment.

The Bayonne Police Chief's Office did not respond to multiple inquiries regarding whether any officers, including Bentacourth, Saroshinsky and Lindquist, have been subject to any disciplinary action or retraining following the incidents involving Dabrowski.

Meanwhile, attorneys Robert Ghelli and Thomas Scrivo of law firm McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP -- who represent the defendants in the lawsuit -- declined to comment on the lawsuit. The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office did not respond to requests for comment.

In a July 10 answer to the lawsuit, defendants for the most part either denied the suit's allegations or stated that there was insufficient information to either admit or deny those allegations.

Aside from the incidents mentioned in the lawsuit, Dabrowski has had other run-ins with the police.

In October 2011, he was arrested by Bayonne police after an off-duty officer said he saw him snorting a packet of what was later identified as heroin. Garrigan said he believes charges against Dabrowski were dismissed in that case.

Then in May 2012, Dabrowski was arrested by Jersey City police after officers said they found him swerving in his car and smelling of PCP. Dabrowski pleaded guilty to a third-degree eluding charge in that case, and received two years of probation, Garrigan said.

More recently, in October this year, Dabrowski was arrested after an officer said he saw him discard a hypodermic needle. When searched, Dabrowski was found with 40 wax folds of heroin, police said. That case is pending, but Dabrowski so far hasn't been indicted on any charges related to the incident, Garrigan said.

When asked if Dabrowski also felt unfairly targeted by Bayonne police in his October 2011 and October 2014 arrests, Garrigan said that was his understanding.

"My understanding of his position is that he's continually targeted by the Bayonne Police Department," he said. "They are continually stopping him without probable cause."

Joel Silberman, the attorney representing Dabrowski in the lawsuit, said that both he and his client have no comment on arrests that aren't mentioned in the lawsuit.

Silberman is also representing two other Bayonne residents in lawsuits against the Bayonne Police Department.

He represents Jason Rios, a Bayonne man who is suing the police department over an incident on Aug. 29, 2010 in which he says police pepper-sprayed him, knocked him out cold, and arrested him for no reason.

A police report said Rios acted in a "threatening manner."

Silberman is also representing Brandon Walsh and Walsh's family, who claim that Bayonne police officers unlawfully used a chemical spray in their home and beat up Brandon Walsh while he was handcuffed. Police said Walsh refused to cooperate with officers.

Silberman said last week that the Walsh lawsuit is still at an early stage. In the Rios lawsuit, the court is continuing to monitor a stay of deposition, he said.

In a separate case this past June involving accusations of police brutality, a Bayonne man's family said he died after police used pepper spray to break up a fight in the foyer of an apartment building.

Law firm Clemente Mueller, based in Cedar Knolls, recently confirmed that they are representing the Peter Lee Williams' family, but declined to comment on whether they plan to file a lawsuit over the matter.

Police said at the time that there was no indication that an altercation between Williams and Bayonne police officers led to his death.

Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.