Inmate Beaten After Throwing Urine At Passaic Co. Officers, Feds Say

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — Three Passaic County sheriff's officers were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly beating a jail detainee in January 2021 in retaliation after the man splashed another guard with urine, according to officials.

According to charges filed by the U.S. Justice Department, Sergeants Jose Gonzalez, 45, Donald Vinales, 38, and Officer Lorenzo Bowden, 39, were all charged with deprivation of rights under color of law and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Bowden was also charged with one count of making false statements, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

On Wednesday, the three were expected to make their first appearance in federal court in Newark.

According to the US Attorney's Office, on Jan. 22, 2021, a pretrial detainee at the Passaic County Jail splashed a mixture containing urine onto a correctional officer.

The following day, Gonzalez, Vinales and Bowden led the detainee through an area of the jail that does not have a video surveillance camera, which correctional officers and inmates at the jail have referred to as a “blind spot."

While in that "blind spot," Gonzalez and Vinales assaulted the handcuffed inmate. They knocked him to the ground and hit him several times, Sellinger said.

Bowden did not interfere to prevent the assault, the complaint states.

One day following the assault, the inmate was taken to a nearby hospital, where injuries from the assault were documented.

After receiving subpoenas indicating that a federal grand jury was investigating the incident, the three charged officers, along with the two guards who witnessed the alleged attack, allegedly met outside a Wayne gym in April 2022 and agreed not to speak about what happened, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

During an interview with federal investigators in October 2022, Bowden falsely stated that the inmate had not been assaulted and that there had not been any meeting or communication among those who participated in or witnessed the assault.

Prosecutors claim the trio conspired to assault the inmate, who was being held on weapons charges, then lied to investigators about the circumstances of the attack on Jan. 22, 2021.

According to court records, the guard who was struck by urine-laced fluid from the detainee was identified as "Officer-1." However, the criminal complaint includes no mention of the officer's involvement in the alleged attack or cover-up meeting.

Bowden, Gonzalez and Vinales all face a maximum of 30 years in prison for their charges. Bowden separately faces an additional five-year maximum sentence for providing false statements to investigators.

Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI and the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office Division of Internal Affairs with the investigation leading to the charges.