After snatching a phone from a man during a traffic stop and threatening to beat another man in the car for recording, Atlantic City police officer Andrew Jaques tried to ressaure the men that they had nothing to worry about because he was recording everything on his body cam.
But when the media requested to see that video, they were told it did not exist.
What does exist, however, is the 1:17 minute video recorded by 22-year-old Antoine Jones who remained passive and respectful while Jaques barked orders and threats in that roid rage resonance so common in cops.
That video, released this week, is the key piece of evidence in a pending lawsuit against Jaques, who has a long history of losing his temper in traffic stops as well as beating and choking citizens, including his girlfriend.
“You frog the fuck up, I guarantee you that 90-pound dog is going to come out and rip the fuck out of you,” he yelled at the two men who were sitting quietly not even sure why they had been pulled over.
They’re still not sure why they were pulled over on February 14, 2017 and threatened and searched before being released with no citation and no explanation so we can assume they were pulled over for driving while black.
According to NJ.com:
Officer Glenn Anthony Abrams Jr. pulled over 22-year-old Antoine Jones and his passenger, 21-year-old Brian Wilson, at Mediterranean and Pennsylvania avenues on the evening of Feb. 14, 2017. According to the lawsuit, veteran officer Andrew Jaques then allegedly “pulled up to the scene like a lunatic.”
It’s unclear why Jones and Wilson were pulled over, but the officers did not charge them with any traffic violations or criminal offenses after the stop and search of their vehicle.
Jaques and Abrams approached the passenger-side window of the 2001 Saturn, and when Wilson began videotaping the encounter, Jaques allegedly stuck his hand through the open window and “violently” grabbed Wilson’s phone.
However, Jones continued to videotape the incident, in which the two men in the car asked the officers why they were being pulled over and whether Wilson could have his phone back.
“I’m gonna explain this one time and one time only,” Jaques says in the video that is over one minute long. “This is gonna go two ways. You are gonna act like a gentleman and I’m gonna treat you like a gentleman. You frog the f— up, I guarantee you that 90-pound dog is gonna come out and rip the f— out of you.”
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In a normal world, we would be shocked at how Jaques has been able to maintain his job for so long but we have long learned that cops like him are the most protected by the Blue Mafia.
A federal judge once described him as being “volatile” and having a “short fuse,” according to a journalistic investigation by the Asbury Park Press last year that revealed his troubled past.
Jaques, 39, was the subject of at least five internal affairs investigations in an eight-month period in 2001 and 2002, according to federal civil court records. He was fired in 2006, but later reinstated by the Civil Service Commission, records show.
At least one of the internal affairs investigations was handled by his uncle, a sergeant in the department’s internal affairs unit, court documents revealed.
Internal affairs complaints accused Jaques of losing his temper in traffic stops and allegedly abusing his girlfriend, bludgeoning a bicyclist and choking a restrained man unconscious in the 2001 and 2002 period.
He also had a pending disciplinary charge for which he received a 30-day “punishment of record” before officially leaving the department. The pending charge was not released by the city. Jaques had been on medical leave since May 2017.
One excessive force lawsuit against Jaques and the Atlantic City Police Department filed in 2016 is pending. The city refused to release the terms of the settlement from a second suit.
According to New Jersey law, citizens have the right to record traffic stops as long as they are not interfering. It is legal everywhere. Don’t let them lie to you.
