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Monday, May 3, 2010

[NJ] Countering abuse of power: Falsely arrested cop's wife Nooshin Sampson fights back with lawsuit

...According to the prosecutor’s office, it was improper for [Camden police Sgt. Shane] Sampson to seek an arrest warrant and no offense was committed in Camden and that police department had no jurisdiction to issue a warrant in this case... The lawsuit states it was filed to "remedy a tragic situation in which a group of Camden City police officers conspired among themselves to abuse the awesome power they wield as police officers in order to try to help one of their fellow officers "win' a child custody dispute with his ex-wife"...

EX-WIFE'S CUSTODY ARREST, ORDEAL LEAD TO POLICE SUIT
Courier-Post
By George Mast
May 3, 2010
[Excerpts] Her hands and feet shackled, Nooshin Sampson tried to understand what was happening as she sat shivering in the back of a Camden police vehicle. Hours earlier she had been arrested at the Atlantic City International Airport after stepping off her return flight from Florida with her 2-year-old daughter. The criminal complaint that led to her arrest was signed by Camden police Sgt. Shane Sampson - her ex-husband and the father of her child. "I couldn't believe it. I thought this was a joke," Nooshin Sampson recalled, as she struggled through tears to tell her side of the eight-hour saga that followed her arrest. Many of the details of that Dec. 28 night are in a federal lawsuit filed by Haddonfield attorney Joseph Osefchen against the 44-year-old's ex-husband, other officers involved in the arrest and the city police department. In the lawsuit, Nooshin Sampson, of Pine Hill, claims she was arrested on a bogus warrant by her ex-husband with the help of his police friends. She says an injury on vacation kept her and her daughter out of the state for a few extra days during December and when she came back to New Jersey she was arrested because of a warrant put out by her ex-husband. The lawsuit, filed April 21, came on the heels of Shane Sampson's April 7 arrest. The now-suspended officer was charged with official misconduct and harassment charges...The lawsuit states it was filed to "remedy a tragic situation in which a group of Camden City police officers conspired among themselves to abuse the awesome power they wield as police officers in order to try to help one of their fellow officers "win' a child custody dispute with his ex-wife." City Police Chief Scott Thomson said the sergeant's misconduct was uncovered by the police department's swift and thorough investigation into the allegation and referred to the prosecutor's office for criminal charges... "We have thoroughly investigated the actions of all officers involved and will take appropriate measures to address violations that have been identified," Thomson said... While Shane Sampson may have been the one to instigate the criminal complaint, the lawsuit states the complaint was also signed by Sgt. Joseph McCray. A third Camden police officer picked up Nooshin Sampson from state police custody after she was arrested at the airport and a fourth processed her at the Camden police headquarters... Four months before Nooshin Sampson's December arrest, Shane Sampson was arrested by Monroe Township police for disorderly conduct... Nooshin Sampson said Monroe police were helping her retrieve her car from her ex-husband's home. Shane Sampson became belligerent during the incident, cursing about "Monroe Township's blue-uniformed pretty boys," according to police reports. In December, Nooshin Sampson received court approval to take their daughter to Tampa, Fla... However, a day before she was planning to return home, she fell and injured her shoulder. Sampson said she immediately notified the court and her ex-husband... But when she emerged from the airplane at the Atlantic City International Airport around 6 p.m. that day, Sampson said she was approached by a state police trooper with the arrest warrant signed by her ex-husband... [Full article here]


Last month:

CAMDEN POLICE OFFICER CHARGED WITH MISCONDUCT
South Jersey Local News
Published: Sunday, April 11, 2010
Camden County Prosecutor Warren W. Faulk and Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson reported a Camden police sergeant was arrested and charged April 7 in connection with a custody dispute between the officer and his ex-wife. Shane Sampson, 41, of Gypsy Lane in Williamstown, is charged with Official Misconduct and Harassment... and was ordered to have no contact with his ex-wife... According to the prosecutor’s office, it was improper for Sampson to seek an arrest warrant and no offense was committed in Camden and that police department had no jurisdiction to issue a warrant in this case... The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office later reviewed the complaint signed by Sampson and dismissed the charges as unfounded. Sampson’s ex-wife signed a complaint with the Internal Affairs Unit of the Camden Police Department shortly after this incident. Sampson has been suspended without pay... [Full article here]

...The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensation, including punitive damages, as well as training for officers to prevent them from abusing their power...

CAMDEN OFFICER'S EX-WIFE SUES, ALLEGING ILLEGAL ARREST
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Barbara Boyer
Apr. 22, 2010
[Excerpts] ...Authorities said discord between the couple had unfolded over several years and involved police on various occasions... In August, Monroe Township police were called to Shane Sampson's home in Williamstown, Gloucester County, where his ex-wife alleged he had removed her vehicle... Police attempted to help her recover the Ford Explorer, but Shane Sampson, in a profanity-laced response, insisted that Nooshin Sampson get off his property and not return until the next day to pick up their daughter, according to the report. Officers reported that when they tried to calm Shane Sampson, he complained that he had paid $12,000 in taxes for Monroe's "blue-uniformed pretty boys." As he advanced, officers reported, he had to be restrained as he ranted about the "Mayberry" police department. He was taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct. The charges are pending, authorities said. In December, Nooshin Sampson had permission from a Family Court judge to take their daughter to Florida but was supposed to bring her back to be with her father by Dec. 23, according to court documents. On Dec. 21, she fell in Tampa and injured her shoulder, according to the lawsuit. A doctor advised her to postpone travel while her arm was secured in a sling for several days. She informed the court and her ex-husband that she and her daughter would return Dec. 28, the lawsuit says. When the two arrived at Atlantic City International Airport, a state trooper served the arrest warrant that had been signed by Shane Sampson and another Camden officer, Sgt. Joseph McCray, who Nooshin Sampson alleges is a close friend of her ex-husband's... At the time of the arrest, Shane Sampson was at the airport, but the state trooper refused to give him custody of the child. Instead, he allowed Nooshin Sampson to call a relative to pick up the girl, and the officer waited until the two left before he handcuffed her mother and took her into custody, the lawsuit says. After she remained in a holding cell in Atlantic County for four hours, an unidentified Camden police officer arrived, frisked and cuffed Nooshin Sampson, and transported her to Camden. She was "driven by this stranger in the dead of night through the Pine Barrens, handcuffed and shackled, as she begged him not to take her to her ex-husband," the lawsuit says. She was processed at the Camden Police Department by another friend of her ex-husband's, Sgt. Suso Davila, who refused to let her speak to Internal Affairs before her release at 3 a.m., the lawsuit says. After dawn, the lawsuit says, Nooshin Sampson returned to the Police Department to file an Internal Affairs complaint with Sgt. Paul Profera, who had attended the couple's wedding. She also attempted to file a complaint in Municipal Court, but was turned away, the lawsuit alleges. She then went to the Prosecutor's Office... The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensation, including punitive damages, as well as training for officers to prevent them from abusing their power... [Full article here]

SAMPSON v. SAMPSON et al
Filed: April 21, 2010 1:2010cv02008 Updated: April 21, 2010 15:20:30
Plaintiff: NOOSHIN SAMPSON
Defendants: JOHN DOE CAMDEN POLICE OFFICERS #1-3, JOSEPH C. MCCRAY, SHANE SAMPSON, SUSO DAVILA and THE CITY OF CAMDEN
Presiding Judge: Jerome B. Simandle
Referring Judge: Karen M. Williams
Cause Of Action: Civil Rights
Court: New Jersey > District Court
Type: Civil Rights > Other Civil Rights
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence (IPV) abuse law enforcement public safety abuse of power new jersey state lawsuit professionalism]

10 comments:

  1. ACCUSED POLICE SERGEANT FROM MONROE HIT AGAIN OVER CUSTODY FIGHT
    The Gloucester County Times
    By Lucas K. Murray lmurray@sjnewsco.com
    Wednesday, May 05, 2010
    [Excerpt] ...[Camden City Police sergeant] Shane Sampson, 41, of Monroe Township, is charged with official misconduct and harassment and is being sued by his ex, Nooshin Sampson, of Pine Hill. She is also suing six other officers and the City of Camden for allegedly conspiring to have to her arrested in December. The 23-page complaint filed April 21 by the Haddonfield law firm of Philip Stephen Fuoco seeks compensatory and punitive damages against the defendants. It also seeks injunctive relief requiring the city to develop policies, procedures and training to prevent officers from "abusing their authority as police officers during custody and domestic disputes with their spouses, ex-spouses and domestic partners"... [Full article here]

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  2. thank you for having this website..I have been divorced for 16 years and my ex lies constantly and his fellow officers and judges back him up..I have only one year to go to deal with him, but he is capable of such bad things, that it will seem longer..there is no support for ex spouses of cops.. I believe there are many cases where a diisaster could have been avoided if someone had listened to an ex spouse about an unstable individual.

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    Replies
    1. I am going through so much, right now, with my ex. He's a lieutenant on the force in my town. It has cost me so much money to defend myself against everything he's thrown at me. I'm a nervous wreck. I feel powerless, and I live like I'm waiting for the next thing to happen.

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    2. Please email me. The address is below. xoxo.

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    3. She is in my prayers!! We stand with you!

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  3. AnonymousJuly 16, 2013

    I am in a similar situation with my ex husband. He has taken my three children from me and I have not seen them in over a year. He got full legal, soul, and physical custody of our children without a hearing. He is a narcotics investigator... There is alot more to this story but is there anything that I can do.

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousJuly 17, 2013

      One of the biggest fears to me is that the more we fight the more danger our kids may be put in as the ex goes into a complete fighting, winning state of mind. It's heartbreaking and so screwed up. Sorry you are going through that. You know your ex better than anyone who advises you so you have assess the risks to yourself and the kids, then determine what percentage of risk is too high.

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  4. To the person who wrote trying to bash Nooshin... first there are only two rules about posting and you broke one. Second, you did not address the crimes at all. That's what this post is about.

    ReplyDelete

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