Two have been accused of improper conduct during a traffic stop.
By: Brian Shappell
East Brunswick Director of Public Safety Thomas Finn said he plans to rule this month in a case involving two township police officers who have had disciplinary charges filed against them.
Mr. Finn said he will render a decision Oct. 25 in the case of Patrol Officer Mark Lorenc and Detective John Avalone, who have been accused in a police investigation of improper conduct during a June 2000 traffic stop.
Charges against the officers include unprofessional conduct, using inappropriate language and assaulting a motorist. The officers are currently under suspension with pay.
Testimony and final arguments in the case concluded Sept. 28.
Officer Lorenc and Detective Avalone have been accused by Robert Acosta, 48, and brothers, Jeff, James and Fred Schweighardt, of using excessive force during the traffic stop. Prosecutor James Plosia said the facts of the case, including injuries to Mr. Acosta, illustrate that the pair should be found guilty and should not be allowed to work as officers in the township again.
Defense attorney Barry Albin, however, said the prosecutor had failed to prove that the officers acted improperly.
The police officers claimed that after stopping Mr. Acosta for pulling across a double yellow highway line next to a truck stuck under a Deans Lane overpass, Mr. Acosta got out of his car upon being pulled over on Black Horse Lane and was hostile to the police.
The police officers said it appeared that Mr. Acosta was reaching for a weapon behind his back. They also said Mr. Acosta held on to the roof of the car in an attempt to resist arrest and hit Officer Avalone twice.
The accused officers also said Jeff and James Schweighardt, who were passengers in Mr. Acosta’s vehicle, subsequently left the car and ran toward the officers, cursing and yelling, and then refused to return to their car.
Capt. Michael Marosy, the department’s internal affairs officer in charge of the investigation, said he questioned the accuracy of the officers’ reports based on a conversation he had with Officer Lorenc the night of the incident.
Capt. Marosy said he was confused by the fact that Officer Lorenc told him that the vehicle’s occupants "gave me the finger" but the officer later denied it.
The defense, trying to prove Capt. Marosy may have been mistaken in recalling the conversation about the incident, pointed out inaccuracies in Capt. Marosy’s report and his testimony on Sept. 13.
Officers Lorenc and Avalone, on Sept. 20 and Sept. 28, stood their ground during testimony on issues including the accuracy of their respective reports and their account that Officer Avalone had been assaulted by Mr. Acosta during the traffic stop.

