Officers endure minor injuries.
By: Leon Tovey
MONROE Two township police officers were injured in the course of a drug arrest Friday, according to police.
Patrol Officer Cristen Mariano and Sgt. Robert Bell were injured while helping to apprehend 42-year-old Thomas Jordan of Monroe, who tried to flee from police at 7:34 p.m., Detective Sgt. Lawrence Linke said Tuesday.
Sgt. Bell, who injured both knees during the incident, was back on the job immediately despite suffering some residual pain in one knee, Sgt. Linke said. Officer Mariano, who suffered a shoulder injury, had not returned to work by Thursday, police said.
The two officers were dispatched to an abandoned house on Bordentown Turnpike, where Officer Jason Cohn had responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle, according to Sgt. Linke. Officer Cohn pulled the vehicle over and was running warrant checks on the driver and two passengers when Officer Mariano and Sgt. Bell arrived, Sgt. Linke said.
When the officers learned that Mr. Jordan had an outstanding contempt of court warrant in Howell Township they moved to take him into custody, Sgt. Linke said. While the officers were removing him from the car Mr. Jordan ran, Sgt. Linke said.
Sgt. Linke said Officer Mariano grabbed Mr. Jordan by his coat but that he broke loose and she fell to the ground, landing on her left shoulder.
Sgt. Bell chased Mr. Jordan and tackled him, injuring both his knees in the process, Sgt. Linke said.
Sgt. Linke said that after Mr. Jordan was handcuffed, the officers searched him and found two packets of a substance they believed to be cocaine, two bags of a substance they believed to be marijuana and a pipe they believed was used for smoking cocaine.
Sgt. Linke said the incident did not result in any broken bones or serious injuries for the two officers. He said they were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, treated for their injuries and released.
Mr. Jordan was charged with resisting arrest, possession of cocaine, possession of less than 50 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, Sgt. Linke said.
Mr. Jordan could face up to five years in prison on the cocaine possession charge which is a third-degree offense and up to 18 months in prison on the charge of resisting arrest, according to Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Caroline Meuly.
He was taken to police headquarters and, after complaining of pain in his back, was transported to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge. He was treated, released to police custody and lodged in the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Facility, in lieu of $30,000 bail.
On Monday, Superior Court Judge Deborah J. Venezia lowered Mr. Jordan’s bail to $5,000 with no 10 percent option.
As of The Cranbury Press’s Thursday afternoon deadline, Mr. Jordan was still lodged in the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Facility.

