An Egg Harbor City couple accused of attacking a state trooper were released from jail Friday.
Clarence and Sasha Mays were arrested Aug. 16, after State Police responded to a large group arguing in a Buena Vista restaurant’s parking lot, according to information released at their detention hearings.
Clarence Mays, 38, pushed the trooper to the ground and then punched him in the face, according to the affidavit read in court.
When the trooper tried to arrest Mays, he allegedly resisted.
Sasha Mays, 37, then jumped on the trooper’s back to prevent the arrest, the affidavit states.
Both were taken into custody.
Superior Court Judge Patricia Wild went against the recommendation by the public safety assessment to keep the couple in jail as their case goes through the courts.
But she prohibited the parents of three children from consuming any alcohol while they are on pretrial release.
“You got to be a little bit impaired to jump on the back of a trooper,” Wild said during Sasha Mays’ hearing. “That’s one of the most stupid things a person could possibly do.”
“Maybe they used a little too much force,” the woman’s attorney, Tom Rossell, told the judge. “Hopefully, we’ll have body camera footage that will elaborate on that.”
Clarence Mays’ attorney, Durann Neil, echoed that sentiment.
“We look forward to obtaining the body cams, which we believe will exonerate Mr. Mays,” he later told BreakingAC.
Sasha Mays works full-time for the New Jersey Transportation Authority as a toll taker, her attorney told the judge in arguing for her release.
He said she still had her job, but risked losing it if kept in jail.
Clarence Mays is a veteran who teaches classes at Fort Dix, Neil told the judge.
“We vehemently deny that my client was going around punching officers, et cetera,” Neil told Wild.
He also noted that Mays is a wrestling coach at Cedar Creek High School.
But Greater Egg Harbor Township Superintendent James Reina told BreakingAC that Mays was no longer working there.
“He was in the past, and was previously asked to not return,” Reina said.
Mays, who goes by C.J., was inducted into the South Jersey Wrestling Hall of Fame last year.
The 2003 Oakcrest graduate was a four-time District 32 and four-time Region 8 Champion, NJ.com wrote at the time.
