NEW BRUNSWICK – A Middlesex County grand jury indicted three Woodbridge police officers on May 6 on charges they tried to cover up a single-vehicle collision that one of them had caused.
Brian Joseph, 33, of Perth Amboy, David Hughes, 31, of the Port Reading section of Woodbridge and Amanda Felicies, 30, of the Fords section of Woodbridge were charged in the six-count indictment with two counts of official misconduct and a related count of conspiracy for failing to file a report and changing computer records that had documented the crash, according to a statement by Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey.
In addition, Hughes was charged with falsifying public records and tampering with public records to conceal the crash, while Felicies was charged with false swearing by lying under oath to police during an investigation into the cover-up.
The indictment was handed up in New Brunswick following an investigation by the prosecutor’s Special Investigations Unit. The case was presented to the grand jury by Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Christine D’Elia.
The charges were filed after an investigation by the Woodbridge Police Department determined that Hughes and Felicies were dispatched to the motor vehicle crash in the township on May 23, 2015. Joseph, who was off duty at the time, was traveling north on Route 9 and was exiting onto West Pond Road when his Mitsubishi sport utility vehicle reportedly jumped the curb, was damaged and could not be driven, according to police.
The investigation allegedly determined that Hughes filed a false report on May 23, 2015, to protect Joseph. Felicies subsequently provided false information under oath on Jan. 19, 2016, the grand jury charged.