Passaic Man Put In Chokehold By Cop For Spitting On The Ground, Lawsuit Says

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — A Passaic man is suing Passaic City and its police department, claiming that he was put in a chokehold, thrown to the ground, and arrested after spitting on a sidewalk.

The lawsuit says that on May 30, 2024, the plaintiff, Jesse Velez, 32, was “antagonized, bullied, provoked, harassed, and intimidated” by six Passaic City police officers before he was put into an illegal chokehold and arrested on “bogus charges.”

According to the filing, Velez was hanging out with friends on Third Street at around 6 p.m. when police officers approached the group. The suit says Velez was walking away from the police officers while he was “speaking his mind and exhausting his First Amendment rights,” and the “assault” began soon afterwards.

The suit does not clarify exactly what Velez said as he was walking away.

The first of the “bogus charges” comes from Velez spitting on a public sidewalk, documents say. One of the officers directly named in the lawsuit, Officer Miguel Garcia, is seen on video approaching Velez and "aggressively yelling” at him following the spitting incident.

“What’re you going to do, What’re you going to do, What’re you going to do?” Garcia said in the video, according to the lawsuit. “You ain’t going to do absolutely nothing. Stop acting like you feel threatened. You're getting locked up.”

The penalty for spitting on a sidewalk is typically a ticket and fine of up to $1,000, according to the City of Paterson’s Chapter 431.

As the officers apprehended Velez, an unnamed officer put him in an illegal chokehold, according to the lawsuit.

The suit states the other “bogus charges” were resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

“Any disorderly conduct crimes are not an arrestable offense unless the Plaintiff was a danger to himself or others or the police. (Velez) was actually walking away from the police officers,” the filing reads. “The police actually escalated the situation and did not de-escalate. This charge was a pretext and an attempt to justify the excessive force and assault/battery done to Plaintiff.”

The filing says Velez was held in custody for a few hours before being released with a summons and complaint. His charges were later dropped in February 2025, according to the suit.

There are 30 legal claims highlighted in the suit, including wrongful arrest, discrimination, malicious prosecution, and racial/ethnic targeting.

Velez is seeking a range of damages from all the defendants, including compensatory damages, consequential damages, damages for loss of liberty, and pain and suffering.

Representing Velez is Nicholas A. Pagliara of Pagliara Law Group.

“As stated in the complaint, we are also seeking punitive damages due to a pattern of unreasonable and excessive force used by the Passaic Police Department. The public record also reflects prior incidents of excessive force in the past, and we believe accountability is necessary,” Pagliara told Patch. “We are concerned that the repeated use of excessive force, especially against unarmed individuals, poses a public safety issue, and that is one of the reasons this lawsuit was filed.”