Answers elusive in police sergeant’s suicide
TRENTON » Police ruled out work-related issues but are still no closer to determining the reasons that city police Sgt. Daniel Pagnotta III took his own life in a parking lot this week in Plainsboro.
The cause and manner of Pagnotta’s death hasn’t been officially declared, pending the results of an autopsy, but Plainsboro Police said evidence discovered inside the 21-year Trenton cop’s vehicle pointed to a suicide.
Pagnotta’s body was discovered around 3:45 a.m.
Wednesday in the tailgate space of his Dodge Durango, in a parking lot on College Road.
Cops also recovered his discharged service weapon and at least three notes to relatives, Plainsboro Police said.
Investigators have not established a connection between Pagnotta and the location where he apparently committed suicide.
“We’ve checked every angle .. but we haven’t found one,” Lt. John Bresnen told The Trentonian in a phone interview Friday.
The reasons behind the Trenton cop’s suicide remain equally elusive. Cops hope Pagnotta’s relatives may help them figure out what motivated the Trenton cop to end his life.
“We’re still looking into it,” Bresnen said. “I can tell you this definitively: He had nothing going on at work. He wasn’t up on charges or anything like that. He was an officer in good standing at work. There was no issues there. I know a lot of people like to look at those angles: Was it because he did something wrong at work? That’s not the case here.”
Pagnotta came from a law enforcement family. His father was a retired Trenton cop.
His death sent shock waves through the Trenton Police department as colleagues remembered Pagnotta III as a dedicated police officers and a fun, affable father of two who was an avid fan of the Chicago Bears and soccer.
Former Trenton Police Lt. Rolando Ramos, who put Pagnotta III in charge of the violent crimes unit in 2017, wondered if antipolice sentiments sweeping the country since George Floyd’s death could have factored into his former colleague’s death.
“Every cop that’s working, there’s the constant questions, the constant fear because of the negativity that’s being constantly pounded on the police,” Ramos said.
At-large councilman Jerell
Blakeley called Ramos a “scumbag” in a Facebook post for speculating about Pagnotta’s death.
“From everyone I’ve heard from, he was a good guy .... Former Lt. Ramos, on the hand, is a scumbag. His musings, without a shred of evidence, linking this suicide to anti-police sentiment is totally irresponsible and shows he has not shame in pushing his petty agenda,” Blakeley wrote.
Plainsboro Police has not discovered evidence to suggest Pagnotta felt pressures at work.
But Bresnen cautioned it’s still early in the investigation.
His department hasn’t interviewed Pagnotta’s relatives. And there’s no rush to get them in.
“We would ask them to kinda help us pinpoint a reason, but we’re not going to do that yet,” the police spokesman said. “We want to give them their privacy. I’m sure it will come out eventually. There is really no hurry to find a reason. It’s tragic, and we just want to give the family their space to grieve. We’re not going to interrupt them in that process.”