Criminal indictments against officers accused in the 2019 death of an Atlantic County jail inmate show "elusive justice is finally in sight," the legal team for the man's family said Wednesday.
The 41-year-old father lost consciousness hours after his arrest Sept. 15, 2019, after police were called for him trespassing at a home with a knife.
While the resident did not press charges, Terruso was arrested on an outstanding child support warrant.
But instead of taking him to jail, the Hamilton Township officers who responded should have taken him to the hospital, according to official misconduct charges each now faces.
Three corrections officers — including the two charged with killing Terruso — also were indicted for official misconduct.
Attorneys from the law firms Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, Kline & Specter, and Michael A. Donio are representing the family in a14-count civil complaint filed in federal court in 2021.
"The indictments of the Atlantic County correctional officers and the Hamilton Township police officers — including supervisors — for an attack on a man who was wrongfully taken into custody is one step on the long path to justice for his family in the criminal and civil justice systems," attorney Tom Kline said. "They seek all those involved to be held fully accountable."
The Attorney General's Office announced the indictments handed up by a grand jury Monday.
“We have great respect for the overwhelming majority of police, correctional officers and healthcare workers who serve our communities," attorneys Andrew R. Duffy and Michael A. Budner said. "However, we also have a solemn duty to represent the loved ones of innocent people like Mario Terruso who are, for no reason, deprived of their fundamental constitutional rights."
They added that "all those responsible for his senseless and preventable death – not just the individuals named in this indictment ... must and will be held accountable through our justice system.”
Donio, a retired Superior Court who once led the criminal division for Atlantic and Cape May counties, said he grew up with Mario's father, who he referred to as "the distinguished former New Jersey State Police lieutenant."
"I know first-hand that his extended family longs for justice, first and foremost, but also real reforms in correctional and police policies and practices to avert another preventable death of an innocent member of our community who was inhumanely denied the medical care he desperately and so obviously needed," Donio said. "If he’d have been treated properly, with compassion not contempt, he’d be alive today.”
Sgt. Eric Tornblom and Corrections Officer Mark Jenigen were indicted on manslaughter and official misconduct charges. Tornblom, who was still working at the jail, is also charged with aggravated assault.
Also charged with offcial misconduct are now-retired Lt. Jesse Swartzentruver, along with Hamilton Township Sgts. Michael Schnurr and Nicole Nelson, and Officers Servando Pahang, Cory Silvio and William Howze.
Atlantic County spokeswoman Linda Gilmore told BreakingAC that the "law department is currently reviewing the indictments and is not able to discuss pending litigation at this time."
(PHOTO: Mario Terruso with his parents and son Nico.)
