A bullet from the gun discharged as a veteran Lambertville officer was holstering it, going from a second-floor apartment to the bedroom of the unit below.
By: Linda Seida
LAMBERTVILLE A veteran police officer whose handgun accidentally discharged during the rescue of a woman and child from a gun-wielding man could end up having to go through weapons retraining, depending on the results of tests conducted on his firearm, police said.
The police-issue .40-caliber Glock could have malfunctioned, Lambertville Police Director Bruce Cocuzza theorized. He said he will ask the state police’s ballistics unit to test it, and he also may turn to an armorer certified in the Glock for additional testing.
The tests could take a matter of weeks or even months, according to Mr. Cocuzza.
"If it (the gun) gets a clean bill of health, retraining will occur," he said.
In the meantime Officer Joseph Weber, who has been a policeman for 12 years, remains on active duty and has been issued another firearm.
"If you haven’t been in there and done that, you just don’t understand the dynamics of the situation," Mr. Cocuzza said. "There are a lot of factors that can sometimes affect what you do."
Those factors could include the adrenaline pumping and the officer’s knowledge he needs to keep both innocent civilians and himself safe from an armed person, he said.
"Fortunately, no one was injured," Mr. Cocuzza said. "That’s the most important thing."
Officer Weber and five other officers responded May 19 to a report of an intoxicated man with a handgun threatening a resident in the apartments located at 59 N. Union St., police said. Police removed the victims, a 31-year-old woman and a 12-year-old child, from a second-floor apartment.
Police took the suspect, Nicanor Vazquez, 26, of Lambertville, into custody and discovered the weapon he carried was only an imitation. Mr. Vazquez, who was "vaguely familiar" with the victims, had gone to the apartment to demand food, Mr. Cocuzza said.
Officers continued to search the rooms for any other intruders or victims. Finding none, they secured the scene, and Officer Weber’s Glock discharged as he holstered it, police said.
The bullet traveled through the second-floor apartment’s floor into the bedroom of a first-floor apartment leased by Shari Rebecca Polk, police said. Ms. Polk was not home at the time of the incident. She could not be reached for comment.
Police later recovered the bullet.
Mr. Vazquez was charged with robbery, burglary and possession of an imitation handgun. He was taken to the Hunterdon County Jail in lieu of $75,000 full bail.
"The fact is, we handled it appropriately," Mayor David Del Vecchio said of the incident. "We acted properly before it and after it, before it in training and after it in terms of making everything public and reporting whatever we had to report. And, fortunately, no one was hurt."
He added, "I don’t think you can second guess an officer. I wasn’t there. You weren’t there."
Mr. Cocuzza said normally only two officers would have been available to respond, but that night there were six because the incident occurred at about the time of a shift change. Also, additional officers were available because they were working overtime on the Click-it or Ticket seat belt program, he said.
Despite opinions to the contrary within the department, Mr. Cocuzza said he insisted the incident be made public.
"It’s an unfortunate circumstance," he said. "But it’s newsworthy; it impacts the public."
Like all 10 members of Lambertville’s police force, Officer Weber undergoes certification at a range twice yearly, according to Mr. Cocuzza. He recently has completed recertification, Mr. Cocuzza said.
Mr. Cocuzza added, "He shoots well. He just went through the qualification cycle. He knows what he’s doing with a handgun. He has always done well."

