PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two Atlantic County corrections officers have been indicted on manslaughter charges in the 2019 death of a man in their custody, Mario Terruso. Charges were also filed Monday against a third corrections officer and five Hamilton Township police officers in connection with his death.
In September 2019, Hamilton police responded to a report of a man, Terruso, trespassing and acting erratically. The homeowner did not press charges, but officers apprehended Terruso on an outstanding child support warrant.
But according to investigators, Terruso exhibited signs of narcotic use and told officers he had been vomiting and needed medical attention. New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said he should have been taken to the hospital, not jail, as is policy.
Platkin said the officers didn’t want to wait around on a Sunday afternoon for Terruso to be checked out by doctors, so they dropped him off at the Atlantic County Justice Facility, where Terruso’s condition deteriorated.
The 41-year-old from Mays Landing was in “desperate need of medical help” and “pleaded” for it, Platkin said, but he never got it.
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When medical personnel at the jail finally determined he should be taken to a hospital, a struggle ensued between corrections officers and Terruso, who was in handcuffs and leg irons. The attorney general’s office said a sergeant hit Terruso in the head four times and restrained him face-down.
The man’s heart stopped and he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The corrections sergeant and officer — Eric Tornblom and Mark Jenigen — are charged with second-degree manslaughter and official misconduct. A lieutenant, Jesse Swartzentruver, also faces the official misconduct charge.
Four of the Hamilton officers have been charged with second-degree official misconduct and conspiracy.