Another NJ State Trooper Charged with Making Amorous Advances Toward Motorist

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Bayonne NJ, A New Jersey state trooper was criminally charged today for allegedly stalking a female motorist in his patrol vehicle while on duty. This is not the first time a NJ State Trooper has been charged with making amorous advances toward motorist . In 2016 a New Jersey State Trooper was arrested and suspended from his job after he allegedly pulled over several women in order to ask them out on dates and then tried to cover up the improper stops. Trooper Marquice Prather, 37, of Linden, New Jersey was arrested on Dec. 9 and charged with tampering with public records or information and falsifying or tampering with records.

In 2018 a New Jersey State Police trooper accused of repeatedly pulling over women to ask them out on dates has been indicted. 32-year-old Eric Richardson faces charges including official misconduct, criminal coercion and tampering with records.Prosecutors allege Richardson pulled over female drivers and threatened to arrest them unless they handed over their phone numbers. They allege in one case he pulled a woman over three times, the last time to ask her if she’d been getting his texts. They say he logged that stop as “aiding a motorist.”

In 2020 Trooper Michael Patterson, 28, of Bayonne, was charged today by complaint-summons with the following criminal offenses:

• Crime of Deprivation of Civil Rights (3^rd degree)
• Stalking (4^th degree)
• Tampering with Public Records (4^th degree)

The New Jersey State Police Office of Professional Standards initially investigated this matter and referred it to the Corruption Bureau within the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, which filed the criminal charges today and is prosecuting the case.

The investigation revealed that on January 28, 2020, Trooper Patterson conducted a motor vehicle stop of a female motorist on the New Jersey Turnpike at approximately 9:30 p.m.  Patterson let the woman go with a warning, but he allegedly conducted a second, unwarranted stop of her vehicle a few minutes later when she exited the Turnpike at Exit 11.

Patterson allegedly conducted the second motor vehicle stop in order to make unwanted advances on the woman.  Patterson allegedly disabled the Digital In-Vehicle Recorder (DIVR) in his vehicle to prevent his conduct from being recorded during this second stop.  It is further alleged that Patterson subsequently put the victim in fear by following her to her home in his patrol vehicle.

Third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000, while fourth degree charges carry a sentence of up to 18 months in prison and a fine of $10,000.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.