The Washington Township police officer who arrested Assemblyman Paul Moriarty for DWI has been suspended without pay per the ruling of an official hearing, according to Capt. Richard Leonard.

Joseph DiBuonaventura is facing 13 criminal charges in connection with the July 31 arrest in Washington Township, including official misconduct, submitting a false report, harassment, tampering with public records and more.

He was suspended with pay immediately following a Loudermill hearing — part of the due process for government employees facing serious discipline — pending the results of the hearing, which came on Nov. 26. He was also required to turn in his badge, gun and any police-issued equipment.

Washington Township Business Administrator Bob Smith said that the township will not request or demand back wages from when DiBuonaventura, who earned a salary in the mid-$90,000's, was suspended with pay. Smith said DiBuonaventura will still maintain health benefits while suspended, since, if a later court decision reversed the Loudermill decision and DiBuonaventura or a family member had incurred serious medical costs, the township would be liable for the bill.

DiBuonaventura was processed, fingerprinted and served with the charges at the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office on Nov. 9. Moriarty filed the criminal complaints against DiBuonaventura in October, alleging that DiBuonaventura “hunted him down,” falsely arrested him for DWI and lied on official police reports to cover his tracks.

Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office Spokesman Bernie Weisenfeld said that the office is currently investigating the charges against DiBuonaventura. A hearing has yet to be scheduled.

In October, Moriarty held a press conference in his lawyer John Eastlack’s office to screen the dashboard camera video of the arrest for members of the press, which Moriarty and Eastlack said clearly shows DiBuonaventura lied on his official police report about the arrest.

In the report, DiBuonaventura wrote that he was patrolling on Route 42 northbound when Moriarty’s blue Nissan Murano cut him off when changing from the left to right lane before entering the Greentree Road jug handle. He said he smelled alcohol on Moriarty’s breath when he pulled him over, and then administered a field sobriety test before placing Moriarty under arrest for DWI. After being taken to the police station, Moriarty refused a breath test.

The dashboard camera video, however, shows that DiBuonaventura was parked on a grassy median on Route 42 facing south, and immediately pulled out when he saw Moriarty’s car — which has special legislative license plates — pass by. The video indicated the officer reached speeds of 80 miles per hour, going through a red light, to reach Moriarty. According to Eastlack, his lights and sirens were not yet activated.

The video also shows that Moriarty drove in the right lane the entire time, two cars ahead of DiBuonaventura. The officer caught up to Moriarty in the jug handle, and pulled him over into the Chick-fil-A parking lot.

While DiBuonaventura wrote in the report, dated July 31, that Moriarty cut him off on Route 42, in the video he tells Moriarty he cut him off “coming out of the jug handle.”

Moriarty has maintained he didn’t have a single drink that day, and noted he knew the officer was fired by the department for previously lying in an official internal affairs investigation. He said he was later reinstated by a court order.

“I knew he was lying about smelling alcohol on my breath because I hadn’t had anything to drink, so I figured, ‘What am I getting myself into here?’” Moriarty said during the press conference.

“The law assumes the officer is operating legally and appropriately within the law and in this case I knew he wasn’t,” Moriarty said after the video was shown. “I was hunted down by this police officer who lied in the police report, lied in the summons he gave to me, lied to me, lied on tape and lied to his supervisors. I didn’t do anything wrong that day. I did nothing to be pulled over, I hadn’t had any alcohol and this officer lied.”

Moriarty’s DWI case is on hold pending the outcome of DiBuonaventura’s case.

Contact Michelle Caffrey at 856-686-3686 or mcaffrey@southjerseymedia.com