NEWARK, N.J. — Five police officers violated the civil rights of a suspect, beating, robbing and using pepper-spray on the handcuffed man because they mistakenly believed he had killed a colleague, federal officials said.
Earl Faison, 27, died after less than an hour in custody due to "egregious misconduct," including an attempted cover-up by two officers, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Cleary said Wednesday.
The five Orange, N.J., officers erroneously suspected Faison of murdering Orange police Officer Joyce Carnegie last year. Another man — the fourth taken into custody — later confessed to the fatal shooting and is serving a life sentence.
The five-count indictment, returned Tuesday and unsealed Wednesday with the arrests of the officers, stems from a yearlong, continuing federal civil rights probe.
It said officers sought to "punish" Faison, who was arrested on April 11, 1999, three days after Carnegie was shot and killed while approaching a robbery suspect on a sidewalk.
"The acts of vigilantism demonstrated by these officers on that tragic day went against the fabric of law enforcement and all that it stands for," said FBI Agent Joseph R. Lewis.
They will face civil rights charges only. A state investigation concluded "there was insufficient evidence to reach a charge of homicide," said Chuck Davis, a spokesman for the state Attorney General.