TUCKERTON – A borough police officer has been cleared of using excessive force according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
The officer was not named in the Prosecutor’s Office report. They stated that the use of force was legally justified and determined that it was not necessary to present this matter to the grand jury.
On November 21, 2019 a patrolman pulled over a Nissan Altima at Delta Gas Station located at 109 East Main Street.
The patrolman told the driver and the front seat passenger, Miguel Angel Villegas, that they were being stopped for obstruction of view and a seatbelt violation. The patrolman could not identify a valid motor vehicle license under the name the driver provided and had asked her to exit the vehicle.
The driver got out of the car briefly, but then got back in and sped away, heading north on North Green Street. Her car then collided with the left side of an unrelated northbound vehicle. It came to an uncontrolled rest in the front yard of a home.
The Tuckerton officer pursued the Nissan and stopped at the scene of the accident. As he approached the unrelated vehicle on the northbound side of the road to check on them, he observed Villegas and the driver outside their vehicle next to the passenger side of the Nissan on the opposite side of the road.
The officer said that Villegas had his hands around his waist area, so the patrolman ordered him to show his hands multiple times, according to the report. Villegas pulled out a gun and fired at the officer and the officer fired back.
Villegas fled south on foot towards East Main Street, where he broke into a garage, stole a bicycle and ultimately got a Lyft ride to North Jersey.
The driver/victim was interviewed and indicated that Villegas was her boyfriend and that he had ordered her to drive him to New Jersey from Connecticut because he was wanted by police. They had stopped in Tuckerton for gas.
She said Villegas had told her to provide a fake name, pointed a handgun at her and told her to drive while pushing her foot on the accelerator pedal.
The officer lacked a body worn camera and his vehicle was not equipped with a mobile video recorder (MVR).
Surveillance video was recovered from the Delta Gas Station showing the suspect vehicle departing from the initial motor vehicle stop. Video from the Wawa convenience store showed Villegas entering the Lyft.
There were multiple witnesses who observed the incident, police said. One witness observed the entire exchange between the officer and Villegas. He confirmed that the patrolman gave multiple verbal commands to Villegas to show him his hands but Villegas did not comply.
The witness also saw Villegas pull out a gun and fire at which time the officer returned fire. An additional witness stated she did not see the events leading up to the shooting, however, she did see a male matching the description of Villegas shooting in the direction of a police officer.
A third witness saw the collision between the suspect vehicle and the unrelated vehicle. She observed the officer order the suspect to the ground. She also observed Villegas pull a gun and fire it toward the unrelated vehicle, which was in the direction of the patrolman.
It was at that time she was pulled behind a vehicle by the officer for her protection. The patrolman returned fire.
A fourth witness observed a male matching the description of Villegas standing next to his vehicle shooting across the street in the direction of a police officer. All four of these witness accounts corroborate the timeline of events as described by the borough officer.
Villegas was located in New York City hours later following a joint effort by local, county, state and federal partners.
Ballistic reports indicate that a total of 23 shots were fired off and accounted for during the shooting. Two of those shots were reportedly from a 9mm handgun, matching the description of the weapon in Villegas’ possession. Twenty-one shots were fired from a 40-caliber weapon, matching that of the patrolman.
On February 4, 2020, Villegas was indicted for Attempted Murder, Kidnapping, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, and Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, Hindering Apprehension, and Aggravated Assault by Auto, Eluding, Aggravated Assault of a Police Officer, Resisting Arrest, Burglary, and Certain Person Not to Possess a Firearm.
On August 13, 2021, Villegas pled guilty to first degree Attempted Murder and third-degree Hindering Apprehension. At the time of sentencing, the State is seeking 15 years in prison on the Attempted Murder charge, subject to the No Early Release Act, concurrent to a 5-year flat term on the Hindering Apprehension charge. He is to be sentenced before Judge Guy P. Ryan, on September 27.
The Prosecutor’s Office concluded that there were no material facts in dispute regarding the lawfulness of the use of force.
An independent review by the Attorney General’s Office also determined that there were no material facts in dispute and that the use of force by the officer was justified.
The Attorney General’s Office concurred with OCPO’s conclusion to forego presentation of this matter to the Grand Jury.
