By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times
An alleged assault and robbery during an April 12 Board of Education candidate’s forum at Stevens College has resulted in counter charges of simple assault and harassment and the downgrading of the initial felony robbery charge against Lane Bajardi by a superior court judge.
Bajardi, an outspoken critic of the NJTransit rail yards, was arrested after a local blogger claimed Bajardi assaulted him and took his digital camera during a candidate's forum earlier this month.
Apparently, Roman Brice, a blogger for Mile Square View, was covering the candidate's forum debate for his blog. He snapped a photo of Bajardi, which upset the outspoken political critic. At some point, Bajardi's left his seat to confront Brice.
According to the police report filed by Brice, Bajardi allegedly asked Brice if he wanted to "play games," to which Brice responded,"sure I want to play chess."
The report goes on to say that Mr. Bajardi pushed Brice with two hands to his chest and then took his digital camera and walked away. Brice alleges he was forced to follow Bajardi in order to retrieve his camera back before Mr. Bajardi destroyed it.
Based upon Brice's account of the incident, a warrant was issued for Bajardi and he was charged with assault and robbery, a felony, for taking Brice's camera from him and walking away with it.
Det. Lt. Mark Competello of the Hoboken police department issued a statement concerning the arrest and downgrading of the initial felony robbery charge: " This is not your typical prototype robbery, however the facts as provided by the victim do sustain the charge initially.
The decision to upgrade or downgrade a criminal charge rests with the Hudson County Prosecutor, not with law enforcement and I presume the charge will ultimately be downgraded to a Disorderly Person offense and be adjudicated in municipal court. There was no investigation by Hoboken Police pertaining to this incident; the charge was produced upon information and belief of the [victim].
In incidents of this nature police intervention is minimal and both parties versions of the incident are heard in court, where a judge will ultimately decide the outcome. It must be noted that Mr. Bajardi is to be afforded the presumption of innocence, until such time this matter is adjudicated in court. Moreover, as is typical in these types of incidents should Mr. Bajardi decide to file a criminal counter-complaint against [the victim], that also is within the law and shall be also taken by the Detective Bureau."
The judge has downgraded Bajardi's charge to Disorderly Person Offense and referred the case to the Hoboken Municipal Court for adjudication.
Brice retrieved his camera, hostile words were exchanged between the two and Bajardi walked back to his seat. Brice continued to take photos of the debate.
Last week, Bajardi, 39, filed the counter charges against Brice alleging that the initial incident at the Board of Education debate was a "culmination of harassment" Bajardi alleges Brice has inflicted upon him since October 2009 and that his integrity, credibility and family have been called into question by Brice causing him "annoyance and alarm."
Bajardi's complaint alleges that it was Brice, 46, who did the pushing causing him to lose his balance and fall back into an auditorium seat, which led to a hip injury. The dust-up occurred on the steps against the wall of the auditorium. Bajardi walked back to his seat afterward.
Lt., Competello stated that the Bajardi/Brice scuffle would now be resolved in Hoboken Municipal Court and no further law enforcement investigation into the matter would occur.
The Black Urban Times
An alleged assault and robbery during an April 12 Board of Education candidate’s forum at Stevens College has resulted in counter charges of simple assault and harassment and the downgrading of the initial felony robbery charge against Lane Bajardi by a superior court judge.
Bajardi, an outspoken critic of the NJTransit rail yards, was arrested after a local blogger claimed Bajardi assaulted him and took his digital camera during a candidate's forum earlier this month.
Apparently, Roman Brice, a blogger for Mile Square View, was covering the candidate's forum debate for his blog. He snapped a photo of Bajardi, which upset the outspoken political critic. At some point, Bajardi's left his seat to confront Brice.
According to the police report filed by Brice, Bajardi allegedly asked Brice if he wanted to "play games," to which Brice responded,"sure I want to play chess."
The report goes on to say that Mr. Bajardi pushed Brice with two hands to his chest and then took his digital camera and walked away. Brice alleges he was forced to follow Bajardi in order to retrieve his camera back before Mr. Bajardi destroyed it.
Based upon Brice's account of the incident, a warrant was issued for Bajardi and he was charged with assault and robbery, a felony, for taking Brice's camera from him and walking away with it.
Det. Lt. Mark Competello of the Hoboken police department issued a statement concerning the arrest and downgrading of the initial felony robbery charge: " This is not your typical prototype robbery, however the facts as provided by the victim do sustain the charge initially.
The decision to upgrade or downgrade a criminal charge rests with the Hudson County Prosecutor, not with law enforcement and I presume the charge will ultimately be downgraded to a Disorderly Person offense and be adjudicated in municipal court. There was no investigation by Hoboken Police pertaining to this incident; the charge was produced upon information and belief of the [victim].
In incidents of this nature police intervention is minimal and both parties versions of the incident are heard in court, where a judge will ultimately decide the outcome. It must be noted that Mr. Bajardi is to be afforded the presumption of innocence, until such time this matter is adjudicated in court. Moreover, as is typical in these types of incidents should Mr. Bajardi decide to file a criminal counter-complaint against [the victim], that also is within the law and shall be also taken by the Detective Bureau."
The judge has downgraded Bajardi's charge to Disorderly Person Offense and referred the case to the Hoboken Municipal Court for adjudication.
Brice retrieved his camera, hostile words were exchanged between the two and Bajardi walked back to his seat. Brice continued to take photos of the debate.
Last week, Bajardi, 39, filed the counter charges against Brice alleging that the initial incident at the Board of Education debate was a "culmination of harassment" Bajardi alleges Brice has inflicted upon him since October 2009 and that his integrity, credibility and family have been called into question by Brice causing him "annoyance and alarm."
Bajardi's complaint alleges that it was Brice, 46, who did the pushing causing him to lose his balance and fall back into an auditorium seat, which led to a hip injury. The dust-up occurred on the steps against the wall of the auditorium. Bajardi walked back to his seat afterward.
Lt., Competello stated that the Bajardi/Brice scuffle would now be resolved in Hoboken Municipal Court and no further law enforcement investigation into the matter would occur.
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