A uniformed Red Bank Police officer observes as a plainclothes officer, Sgt. Ashon Lovick (in tan shirt), prepares to cross Shrewsbury Avenue as part of an effort to target drivers who break the law requiring drivers to yield to pedestrians. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
A Red Bank Police Department effort to crack down on drivers who don’t stop for pedestrians scored a victory after a driver ticketed during a sting operation fought his case at trial and lost. He then appealed to a higher court and lost again.
Herbert E. Stephens was one of dozens of drivers ticketed during late summer operations in which police used a plainclothes officer to act as a decoy, attempting to cross the street in a crosswalk. Multiple other officers observed and pulled over drivers who didn’t stop a few hundred feet down the road.
In an April 15 decision, NJ State Superior Court Judge Michael Guadagno rejected Stephens’s argument, which he made in both Red Bank municipal court and Superior Court in Freehold, that police had improperly ticketed him, lied during the investigation, and lured him into the offense.
“The Red Bank Police did not induce the defendant to commit the offense but merely presented a situation where he had the opportunity to either stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk, in compliance with the law, or proceed through it lawfully,” Guadagno wrote in his decision. “He chose the latter.”
A driver is pulled over on Shrewsbury Avenue for not stopping for a pedestrian during an August pedestrian safety detail. (photo by Brian Donohue)
In the five years leading up to the late summer operation, officials said 54 pedestrians had been struck crossing Red Bank streets. In the first line of his decision, Guadagno cites the 30 percent increase in pedestrian fatalities in New Jersey last year, with 223 pedestrians killed statewide.
Red Bank Police Chief Mike Frazee said the decision bolsters the department’s efforts to reduce pedestrian accidents using the state-funded pedestrian safety details.
“The court is sending a clear message about prioritizing pedestrian safety and holding motorists accountable for poor driving that could endanger lives,” Chief Frazee said in an email response to redbankgreen. “Having it reaffirmed in superior court just reinforces the importance of pedestrian safety within the legal system.”
Stephens’ place of residence could not be gleaned from either court documents or public records. He could not be reached for comment and represented himself in court with no attorney.
His arguments with authorities over their tactics began the moment he was pulled over at the corner of Maple Avenue and Reckless Place on September 16 for failing to stop as Sgt. Ashon Lovick attempted to cross the street near the Red Bank YMCA.
According to Guadagno’s decision, Officer Eliot Ramos Jr. offered to cut Stephens a break and issue a ticket for failure to wear a seatbelt, which carries a smaller fine and no points on his driving record.
“You need to write me a ticket. If I’m guilty of something, you need to write me a ticket,” Stephens is quoted as saying in the written decision. So they did.
But in a January trial in Red Bank municipal court, Stephens testified he didn’t see anyone in the crosswalk, according to documents. In his decision, Judge Guadagno described Stephens’ testimony at the initial trial as “evasive and unresponsive.”
“When asked on cross-examination by the municipal prosecutor, has fast he was going defendant curtly responded “the speed limit,” the decision reads. “When asked what the speed limit was, the defendant was dismissive: “Doesn’t matter. I always do the speed limit. I’ve been driving for 50 years.”
Stephens was found guilty by Judge Frank LaRocca and assessed a fine of $157 and $33 in court costs. He filed an appeal to the Law Division of Monmouth County Superior Court.
In the second so-called “de novo” trial in Freehold, Stephens argued that it would have been impossible for Officer Ramos to see Sgt Lovick crossing Maple Avenue from his vantage point two blocks away. Judge Guadagno rejected that argument and also dismissed Ramos’s offer to issue a less pricey ticket as irrelevant to the case.
Guadagno also dismissed the argument that such pedestrian decoy operations “entrap” drivers. ” Such defense arguments only hold water in cases where law enforcement officers actually induce a suspect to commit a crime.
Citing the likelihood that other police departments may employ similar decoy operations, Guadagno noted they were likely to withstand any similar challenges.
“Decoys, traps and deceptions properly may be used to apprehend those engaged in crime or to obtain evidence of the commission of the crime,” he wrote.
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
