Citing internal affairs inquiry, Totowa won't release radio calls in fatal moped crash

Joe Malinconico
Updated ·1 min read
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Police at the scene where a person was killed during an apparent police pursuit of a motorcycle that ended up in a crash on McBride Avenue at Nagle Street in Paterson, NJ around 7:15 p.m. on September 20, 2023. (Photo/Christopher Sadowski)

PATERSON — Officials in Totowa have refused to make public recordings of police radio transmissions involving the law enforcement pursuit that ended in the crash death of a moped driver in Paterson.

Police in Totowa said this week that the records are part of an Internal Affairs investigation of the incident being conducted by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

Unanswered questions

More than three weeks after the incident, authorities have not yet revealed why Totowa Police Officer Damiano DiIorio was pursuing the moped driven by 28-year-old David Lucero of Paterson.

Lucero was killed on Sept. 20 in a crash on McBride Avenue in Paterson while DiIorio was following him, officials said. Lucero’s passenger on the moped suffered nonfatal injuries.

Citing an ongoing investigation, authorities have left many other questions unanswered, including where the police pursuit began, how long it lasted, how fast the vehicles were traveling, and how many police vehicles were following Lucero’s moped.

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Paterson Press filed a public records request with Totowa for police radio transmissions in an effort to get answers.

“Until this investigation is deemed complete or I am otherwise directed by the NJDCJ, all records that are part of this investigation will not be released by this department,” said Totowa Capt. George DiPasquale.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Totowa NJ police won't release radio calls in moped crash