TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey grand jury indicted a police officer on misconduct, assault and tampering-with-public record charges stemming from an incident last summer in which he allegedly fired his Taser at a man operating an all-terrain vehicle, the state attorney general’s office said Tuesday.
Officer Tyquan McIntosh of the Chesilhurst Police Department was indicted Monday after initially being charged on a summons, according to acting attorney general Andrew Bruck.
McIntosh faces second-degree official misconduct, third-degree aggravated assaulted, third-degree tampering with public records and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records charges.
According to the criminal complaint, on Aug. 12, 2020, McIntosh approached when the ATV stalled but the driver restarted it and took off. Prosecutors allege that McIntosh, 28, of Minotola then fired his Taser, hitting the 23-year-old man in the back and causing him to flip the ATV.
The man was left with a concussion, a fractured collarbone and other injuries, authorities said. State guidelines prohibit police officers from firing conducted energy devices such as Tasers at moving vehicles, unless the use of deadly force would be authorized.
Authorities also said that McIntosh included false statements in his reports about the discharge of the Taser.
A message seeking comment was left Tuesday with his attorney.