SHERIFFS SUED

Lawsuit says sheriff’s officers wrongly raided Trenton home >>

TRENTON >> At least eight Mercer County Sheriff’s officers conducted an unconstitutional house raid in Trenton in an operation that terrorized two parents and three children, according to the bombshell allegations cited in a newly filed civil rights complaint.

Seeking monetary relief to alleviate their pain and suffering, the family of five struck back this week with a federal lawsuit against the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office and the Mercer County government, accusing multiple officers of unlawfully entering their Trenton residence and using unreasonable and excessive force.

Monica Nash, Hector Nazario and their three minor-age children on Monday filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court here in New Jersey. Their complaint alleges multiple detectives from the sheriff’s office entered the Nazario and Nash property without a warrant or probable cause on June 1, 2015, and “threatened the use of deadly force by pointing their firearms at the plaintiffs, including the three young children, Te’amo, Skyler and Hector Jr.”

Hector Nazario Jr. was 9, Skyler Nazario was 10, and Te’amo Nash was 12 at the time.

The complaint alleges the officers entered the Nazario and Nash household about 4:40 p.m. and did not obtain a search warrant for the home until almost five hours later.

The complaint says the officers detained Monica Nash and Hector Nazario for more than 11 hours before they were released without being charged and that their three minor-aged children “had to be turned over to a family friend as their parents had been wrongfully arrested.”

All five plaintiffs in the case are represented by attorney Patrick Whalen. They are demanding a trial by jury and are seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and any other compensation allowable by law, including attorney fees and court costs.

A Mercer County spokeswoman on Tuesday said the Mercer County Counsel’s office had not yet been served a copy of the complaint but noted the county’s policy is to withhold comment on any pending litigation.

In addition to suing the sheriff’s office and the county government, the Nazario and Nash lawsuit also targets the following sheriff’s officers in their individual and official capacities: Detective Joseph Tuccillo, Detective James Udijohn, Sgt. James Nizolek, Detective William Perez, Officer Ricardo Hernandez, Detective Robert Kelly, Detective Andrew DiStefano and Detective Otis Wood.

The four-count complaint alleges the following:

• Mercer County Sheriff’s officers made a warrantless entry into the Nash and Nazario household in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

• The officers used unreasonable or excessive force in violation of the U.S. Constitution and New Jersey State Constitution.

• The sheriff’s office and county government “had the power to prevent or aid in the prevention of said wrongs and could have done so with reasonable diligence and intentionally, knowingly or recklessly failed or refused to do so.”

• The sheriff’s office and county are liable “because they permitted conditions to exist which facilitated and/or permitted such conduct to occur.”