Crime & Safety
Former Hopatcong Cop Pleads Guilty To Assaulting Handcuffed Man
James Still admitted to bashing the man's head into a glass partition while he was in custody at the Hopatcong police station.
HOPATCONG, NJ — A former Hopatcong police officer pleaded guilty this week to assaulting a handcuffed man in his custody, acting Sussex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray announced.
James D. Still, 39, of Fredon, pleaded guilty to simple assault in connection with the incident that occurred on Nov. 7 while he was still a uniformed police officer with the Hopatcong Borough Police Department.
According to Murray, Still arrested a man in Hopatcong for driving while intoxicated. After he was taken to the police station for processing, prosecutors said Still used excessive force on the man by grabbing his arm and hair and slamming his head into a glass partition in the station's lobby.
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The man suffered injuries to his face and head, prosecutors said.
The incident, which was captured on a body-worn camera, was immediately reported to the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office.
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As a condition of Still's plea agreement, he was forced to resign from his position with the Hopatcong Police Department and is barred from future public employment.
His sentencing is scheduled for June 28.
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