Three Long Branch Officers Injured Trying To Subdue City Man

LONG BRANCH, NJ - Long Branch police recently arrested a city man after he attacked several officers and even tried to bite one on the ear, Police Chief Jason Roebuck said.

Mathues Tavares Emidio, 21, was charged with three counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, and two counts of resisting arrest. He also had a $350 warrant out of Long Branch. He was taken to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement was also notified and a detainer was sent to the jail, Roebuck said.

The mayhem began when newly-sworn Police Officer Daniel Cunha was driving his personal vehicle on Cedar Avenue at 10 p.m. on Jan. 20 when he saw and heard an argument between several men attempting to hold a man from assaulting a woman.

The participants were screaming in Portuguese, and Cunha is fluent in Portuguese.

Cunha identified himself as a police officer, confirmed the man was intoxicated and attempting to assault his girlfriend. Cunha tried to use his cell phone to call headquarters, but Emidio charged Cunha,and screamed that it didn't matter that he was a cop. Emidio began to assault Cunha, as Cunha tried to block his blows while he finished calling, the chief said.

Cunha put his phone away and took Emidio to the ground, holding him there until Corporal Robert Korn arrived. Korn, unaware that it was Cunha on top of Emidio, pulled him off. Emidio then fled on foot, Roebuck said.

A foot pursuit ensued and the officers lost Emidio in the backyards of the houses along 2nd Avenue. Officer Chris Gant also responded, found Emidio on the north side of the complex, and ordered him to stop. Emidio fled again, and Gant was joined by another rookie officer, Conor Mullan and his field training officer, David Stone.

Mullan caught Emidio as he ran on the water behind Pleasure Bay, and took him to the ground on the ice about five feet onto the frozen river. Emidio continued to fight, attempted to bite Mullan's left ear and grab his face. Mullan was joined by Gant and Stone and Emidio was placed under arrest, Roebuck said.

Mullan and Stone suffered abrasions and to their hands and knees and some cuts to their uniforms, and Cunha was brought to Monmouth Medical for a cut on his hand. He landed on a rock when he took Emidio to the ground in the initial incident, the chief said.

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