A six-week investigation into a complaint about a Spotswood, N.J., police officer resulted in the arrest last week of two local residents.
According to police, Marianna Bukhman, 26, of East Brunswick, and
David Flance, 28, of Monroe, were each charged with the fourth-degree
offense of
providing a false report to law enforcement.
The pair reportedly filed a complaint with the Spotswood Police Department
after a borough police officer stopped Bukhman's vehicle on May 5.
Flance was a passenger in the vehicle. The two occupants reported
that the officer who stopped their car had poor demeanor and used
abusive language toward them, according to Spotswood Police Sgt. Chris
Bierman, who
investigated the complaint along with Capt. Michael Zarro.
Bukhman provided police with written and verbal statements of her account, Bierman said, while Flance gave a verbal account.
Police had recently begun using the L-3 Mobile-Vision
in-car video and
audio recording system, and Bierman said a review of the incident using
that device showed the complaint was false and that there was no
wrongdoing on
the part of the officer.
Bierman described the complaint as an attempt by those in the vehicle to discredit the police officer.
"It seems there may have been a personal issue behind this over a
past experience with one of the occupants and the police department,"
he said.
Bukhman was released on recognizance after being charged Friday.
Flance was lodged at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center,
North
Brunswick, in lieu of $5,000 bail with no 10 percent option. The two
have a court date pending in state Superior Court, Bierman said.