A Mays Landing man who died inside the Atlantic County Justice Facility in 2019, was denied medical attention and fatally beaten, according to a lawsuit his son filed in federal court.
Mario Terruso, 41, died from a "brutal assault & (that) was unlawful, unprovoked and unjustified," the suit claims.
Terruso died hours after Hamilton Township police arrested him around 1 p.m. Sept. 15, 2019.
Nearly five hours later, he was on the ground of the Atlantic County Justice Facility restrained, bleeding and unresponsive, video from a body-worn camera shows.
Just before that, Terruso appeared to be having a medical issue while locked inside a holding area.
After he was taken out of the cell, Terruso continues making hacking noises with his tongue out.
He is put on a chair and two nurses approach. One tries to put a thermometer in his mouth, but he turns away, as the hacking continues.
At one point, he goes to the ground with officers over him.
The angle of the camera provides little more than some blurry images and a shot of the floor.
At that time, "Terruso, despite exhibiting no signs of resistance, was violently thrown to the floor, and fatally beaten by ACJF correctional officers," the lawsuit claims. "Mr. Terruso's head was violently and audibly smashed into the concrete floor three times, at which point he began to bleed profusely."
It also claims that one officer punched Terruso "in the face multiple times as he was being restrained by many other officers."
When Terruso is next shown in the video, he is face down with blood smeared on the floor around his head.
Nico Terruso-Crespo, 22, of Brigantine, filed the16-count suit Aug. 13, a month before the two year anniversary of his father's death. He is the oldest of Terruso's five children. The others range in age from 1 to 16.
The counts include unreasonable and excessive force, conspiracy, wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraudulent concealment and medical negligence.
Terruso shouldn't have even been in the jail, according to the filing, which says he was arrested on an outstanding child support warrant.
"The warrant was never confirmed by the arresting officers and, had they done so, Hamilton Township police would have learned that the child support had been paid and the warrant was no longer active," the suit states.
It names the Atlantic County Justice Facility, Hamilton Township and its police department, CFG Health Systems and several individuals including dozens of still-not-identified men, women and corporations as defendants.
The alleged cover-up included attempts to cover the cameras and officers telling Terruso to "stop resisting" while Terruso was unable to move.
Terruso was in a full body wrap on the floor for more than 27 minutes before he was placed in an ambulance, the suit claims.
But this is not uncommon for the jail, the suit alleges.
"The beating and use of excessive force & and the subsequent cover up was not an isolated or aberrational incident," it reads. "It was the direct result of systemic deficiencies in the training, supervision and discipline of the ACJF officers & that began long before the brutal assault and killing of Mr. Terruso and continue to this day."
At the time, the union for the officers said the investigation would clear them.
The fatal incident remains under investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, according to Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office.
"Once complete, the case will be presented to a grand jury, typically consisting of 16 to 23 citizens, to make the ultimate decision regarding whether criminal charges will be filed," Aseltine told BreakingAC.
The suit asks for a trial by jury. No court dates have been set.
An Atlantic County jail inmate pleading for help was instead belittled, tied up and punched before he wound up dead, a witness told BreakingAC.Mario Terruso Jr., 41, was pronounced dead at 1 a.m. Monday at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center's Mainland Campus in Galloway Township, officials said.But his issues started more than two hours earlier inside & Read More
The death of an Atlantic County jail inmate was not caused by wrongdoing on the part of correction officers, according to a statement from the unions that represent those officers.Mario Terruso Jr., 41, of Mays Landing, died after being taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center's Mainland Campus in Galloway Township at about 7:50 Sunday night, &Read More
Video recordings of a Mays Landing man who died after being taken to the Atlantic County jail were made public Friday, more than 19 months after Mario Terruso Jr. died.Terruso, 41, was arrested by Hamilton Township police responding to a trespassing call just after 1 p.m. Sept. 15, 2019.Nearly five hours after Terruso was taken & Read More
