Officers indicted over death of Atlantic County Jail detainee Mario Terruso Jr.

TRENTON – Two corrections officers face manslaughter charges in connection with the September 2019 death of a detainee at Atlantic County Jail.

A state grand jury has also voted to file official misconduct charges against a third jail officer and five Hamilton Township officers over the death of 41-year-old Mario Terruso Jr., according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Terruso, a Mays Landing man, died during a medical episode hours after being arrested at a Hamilton home.

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Hamilton police improperly took Terruso directly to the Mays Landing jail, rather than a hospital, and he was then mistreated by corrections officers, Attorney General Matthew Platkin alleged.

“Mario Terruso was in desperate need of medical help. He pleaded for that assistance, but he never got the help he so desperately needed,” Platkin said in a statement announcing Monday’s charges.

Mario Terruso jailed after Hamilton incident

Hamilton police took Terruso into custody near midday after a homeowner reported a man had entered his unlocked home, picked up a knife and falsely claimed people were shooting at him, the statement said.

The homeowner declined to press charges for trespassing, but police arrested Terruso due to an outstanding child support warrant.

The officers concluded Terruso, while handcuffed in a police vehicle, needed a medical and mental health evaluation for signs of drug use, paranoia and hallucinations, according to the statement.

But the officers and their supervisors contradicted department policy and did not take Terruso for medical treatment "because it was a Sunday afternoon and the Hamilton police officers would have to sit and wait at a hospital while medical staff completed an evaluation,” the statement said.

The officers also allegedly hid from jail personnel any information about Terruso’s condition, including his earlier request to go to the hospital because he had been vomiting, it continued.

A struggle at Atlantic County Jail

Terruso’s condition worsened at the jail, and a drug test showed he was positive for methamphetamine and ecstasy.

Medical personnel at the jail wanted Terruso to be taken to a hospital around 6:30 p.m., but the detainee struggled with corrections officers, the statement said.

Correctional Sgt. Eric Tornblum allegedly struck the handcuffed man in the face four times, it said.

Terruso, also restrained by leg irons, was allegedly forced to the ground “and restrained face down while officers attempted to place him in a soft restraint wrap,” it went on.

Terruso’s heart stopped and he was taken to a hospital shortly before 8 p.m. He was pronounced dead early the next morning.

Criminal charges against jail, Hamilton officers

Tornblom and Correctional Officer Mark Jenigen were charged with manslaughter.

An attorney for Jenigen, Katherine D. Hartman of Moorestown, called the charge against her client "a travesty."

Lawyers for the other officers were not immediately available.

Tornblom also was charged with aggravated assault.

Tornblom, Jenigen, and Correctional Lt. Jesse Swartzentruver were charged with official misconduct.

Atlantic County's law department is reviewing the indictments "and is not able to discuss status of employment at this time," county spokeswoman Linda Gilmore said Tuesday.

Also charged with official misconduct were Hamilton police sergeants, Michael Schurr and Nicole Nelson, and officers Servando Pahang and Cory Silvio.

Hamilton Police Officer William Howze was charged with conspiracy to commit official misconduct.

The charges are only allegations. No one has been convicted in the case.

A township representative did not respond to a question about the officer's employment status.

The Hamilton officers “all maintain their actions were completely appropriate and look forward to speedy and complete exoneration,” said Charles J. Sciarra, an attorney for their union.

He questioned the three-year gap since the officers gave voluntary statements in December 2019.

Sciarra asserted the timing of the indictments might reflect the “unapologetic anti-cop Attorney General and his minions scouring their files for something to hammer cops on to appease their base.

“It’s either that or they incompetently left these five officers out on the street with full police powers for over three years,” Sciarra said.

An attorney for Terruso's estate last year said the grand jury presentation was delayed for at least three months by a motion "pending under seal before an unknown judge."

The lawyer, Michael Budner of Philadelphia, cited information provided by the Attorney General's Office in a letter to a federal judge hearing a lawsuit brought by the estate.

A state law requires an investigation into any death that occurs while a person is in custody or in connection with a law enforcement officer acting in an official capacity.

The investigation included witness interviews, forensic and video evidence, and autopsy results, the Attorney General's statement said.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Hamilton police charged over death of Atlantic County Jail detainee