The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has identified the decedent and four Bayonne police officers involved in a fatal incident last month where a man died in the hospital after being restrained.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The civilian who died in the wake of that encounter has been identified as Juan Poche, 44, of Bayonne, the AG’s office said in a statement.
According to the preliminary investigation, at 12:18 a.m., after receiving a 911 call, police officers from the Bayonne Police Department were dispatched to an apartment building on Broadway, in the vicinity of Linnet Street.
The 911 caller was concerned after reportedly hearing “a lot” of screaming coming from an apartment.
Responding officers approached the apartment described by the caller and heard yelling coming from inside.
Officers encountered the man who had been yelling, later identified as Poche, and requested medical assistance.
Bayonne Police Sgt. Matthew Tarbett and Police Officers Christian Cella, Marcin Chojnowski, and Ernesto Naveed restrained Poche for medical personnel to transport him to the Bayonne Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead at 8:44 a.m.
The cause and manner of death are under investigation.
A 2019 law, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2), requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody.
It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.
The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.
