NJ Corrections, Police Officers Indicted In Inmate Death

HAMILTON, NJ - A New Jersey grand jury has indicted three correctional officers and several other local police officers in the 2019 death of an inmate, according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.

Monday’s returned indictment charged Atlantic County Correctional Sergeant Eric Tornblom and Correctional Officer Mark Jenigen with manslaughter in connection with the death of Mario Terruso, 41, of Mays Landing, who died in an area hospital after he was lodged in the Atlantic County Justice Facility on Sept. 15, 2019, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement.

Tornblom, Jenigan, and Correctional Lt. Jesse Swartzentruver were also charged with official misconduct and Tornblom was charged with aggravated assault.

The grand jury also indicted Hamilton Police Sergeants Michael Schnurr and Nicole Nelson, as well as Hamilton police officers Servando Pahang, Cory Silvio, and William Howze, on official misconduct charges in connection with their handling of the inmate the day he died after an attorney general’s office investigation found that the officers reportedly opted against getting medical help for the victim, instead bringing him to the Atlantic County Justice Facility, where he experienced a medical episode as correctional officers were trying to restrain him. He later died at a hospital.

Following an investigation from the AG’s Office of Public Integrity & Accountability into the officer-involved death, which included interviews of witnesses, collection of forensic evidence, review of video footage, and autopsy results from the medical examiner, a grand jury voted “true bill” on Monday, determining that criminal charges against the officers were warranted.

“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. “In New Jersey, our police officers show compassion and provide help to people dealing with problems and distress on a daily basis, dutifully and often quietly doing the work that makes theirs such a noble profession. But for Mr. Terruso, those sworn to protect him are the very people alleged to have abused him in his time of need – leading the Grand Jury to determine that two of the officers involved are criminally responsible for his death.”

Terruso was initially detained by Hamilton police officers in Atlantic County shortly after 1 p.m. September 15, 2019 following a report of an individual trespassing at a residence.

In a 911 call, a homeowner told dispatchers that a man, later identified as Terruso, allegedly entered his unlocked home, was weilding a knife and had claimed people had been shooting at him (which was untrue, the AG’s office said). While the homeowner declined to press charges, officers took Terruso into custody due to an outstanding child support warrant.

The attorney general's office investigation found that officers determined Terruso was exhibiting signs of narcotic use, paranoia and hallucinations, which warrants a medical and mental health evaluation per Hamilton police policy. Terruso himself stated that he had been throwing up and asked to go to the hospital, the attorney general’s office said.

“The Hamilton officers and their supervisors allegedly decided to take Terruso to the county jail instead of the hospital 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 attorney general’s office said in a statement.

At the jail, the Hamilton officers reportedly hid information from the jail staff about Terruso’s physical and mental state, including his request to go to the hospital. Terruso’s condition worsened at the hospital, making gagging and hacking sounds and spitting up a black substance as the day progressed.

After a drug test revealed he was positive for methamphetamine and ecstasy, medical personnel wanted Terruso to be taken to a local hospital at about 6:30 p.m. Terruso struggled with corrections officers who were trying to prepare him for transportation; while restrained in handcuffs and leg irons, Terruso was reportedly forcibly taken to the ground, struck by Tornblom in the head four times and restrained face down while officers attempted to place him in a soft restraint wrap. His heart stopped before officers could fully apply a restraint system, the attorney general’s office said.

Terruso left the jail in an ambulance at approximately 7:25 p.m., and arrived at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Galloway at about 7:50 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 2:19 a.m. the next day on Sept. 16, 2019.

Tornblom and Jenigen were each charged with second-degree manslaughter and second-degree official misconduct; Tornblom also faces a second-degree official misconduct count, as well as one count of third-degree aggravated assault. Swartzentruver has been charged with second-degree official misconduct.

Schnurr, Nelson, Pahang, and Silvio have been charged by indictment with two counts, second-degree official misconduct and conspiracy to commit official misconduct. Howze was charged with one count of second-degree conspiracy to commit official misconduct.

Each second-degree count could carry up to a 10-year prison term with a $150,000 fine upon conviction. If they are convicted and sentenced to prison on the manslaughter charge, Tornblom and Jenigen would have to serve 85 percent of the sentence, during which they would be ineligible for parole. Third-degree crimes can carry a prison sentence of three to five years and a $15,000 fine.

“The municipal police officers who Mr. Terruso initially encountered brushed aside department policy, and the victim’s medical needs to avoid being inconvenienced,” said Office of Public Integrity & Accountability Executive Director Thomas Eicher. “They improperly and unlawfully passed the buck to the county correctional system. It was there where Mr. Terruso was forcibly restrained and punched by those who should have been getting him the medical care he so desperately needed.”