Felix DeJesus family’s lawyer sues Haledon, seeking missing person records
PATERSON — The lawyer for the family of a man who has been missing since Feb. 2 sued the borough of Haledon this week to get documents about the police investigation into his controversial disappearance.
Felix DeJesus, a 41-year-old Haledon resident, was last seen on Feb. 2 after he was detained by two Paterson police officers after a disturbance in a city bodega and then dropped off blocks away at Westside Park, according to his family members and law enforcement officials.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday, said DeJesus’ family believes information in the missing person investigation file may help them find him. Haledon officials declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Haledon police have said five people saw DeJesus at the park after the police left him there on a freezing night wearing a T-shirt and pants. But Haledon police have not divulged the names of those people or exactly what they told investigators.
The conduct of the two officers, who turned off their police body cameras while DeJesus was still inside their patrol vehicle, has been the subject of a Paterson Internal Affairs investigation, according to multiple sources familiar with the case. But the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office has not acknowledged the existence of the IA probe.
An Open Public Records Request filed on June 16 by the family’s lawyer, Jeff Patti, sought numerous documents from the Haledon police missing person investigation, including the witness interviews. But Haledon on July 12 denied Patti’s request “due to the fact that there is an ongoing investigation.”
Prior to Patti’s OPRA request, officials in Paterson had attempted to keep confidential the video recordings from the body cameras worn by the two cops who detained DeJesus. But a judge ordered the recordings be released after news organizations filed an OPRA lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Paterson’s law director, Aymen Aboushi, sent the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office a letter on July 13 asking on behalf of the Paterson City Council that the Bergen County agency take over the DeJesus investigation. Aboushi based the request on “the appearance of a conflict of interest” because one of the officers is related to a council member in Paterson.
Earlier:Paterson says radio transmissions in Felix DeJesus missing person case no longer exist
Authorities have not identified the cops by name. Neither did Aboushi’s letter. But Patti has said in a letter to the Attorney General’s Office that the officer in question is Jacob Feliciano, cousin of councilman Michael Jackson.
Jackson, who has been supportive of the DeJesus family’s demands for answers over the past five months, acknowledged the appearance of a conflict and said he has no problem with the probe being shifted to the neighboring county. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to a reporter’s message regarding Aboushi’s letter.
On Tuesday night, Jackson took exception with what he said was an increased police presence at council meetings since the DeJesus family began attending the sessions. The family members — who have attended every council session since February, repeatedly have engaged in angry verbal exchanges with city officials during the meetings.
Jackson said prior to the DeJesus case that there would be no officers at the council’s workshop meetings and two officers at council business meetings. In recent months, the councilman said, there have been three cops at City Hall on meeting nights and sometimes additional officers outside the building.
“We’re taking officers off the streets when we’re already short,” Jackson said.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Jackson asked for an explanation for the cops, but none of the other officials provided him with an answer.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Missing person Felix DeJesus family sues Haledon NJ seeking records
