‘That’s for Free, Bro’: New Jersey Police Officers Mocked Black Man Recovering from Brain Surgery as They Squeezed His Scrotum and Beat Him During Arrest, Lawsuit Says
A federal judge ruled this week that a lawsuit filed by a Black man in Paterson, New Jersey, alleging that police officers illegally searched, beat, and sexually assaulted him in 2022 can proceed. U.S. District Judge Jamel K. Semper ruled on Sept. 22 that some of the claims of Benjamin Jackson have legal merit, while dismissing others. In his lawsuit filed in November 2024 (and obtained by Atlanta Black Star) Jackson, 35, alleges that four undercover Paterson Police Department officers in plainclothes stopped him without reasonable suspicion around 8 p.m. on Nov. 6, 2022 as he stepped out of an SUV wearing a black fanny pack. Benjamin Jackson (center) is suing Paterson, NJ and several of its police officers for allegedly using excessive force and assaulting him during an arrest in 2022, including Officers Wisam Salameh and Corey Davis (left) and Officers John Rikowich and Muhammed Dombayci (right). (Photos: Paterson Police Department Facebook Page, New Jersey Department of Corrections). One of the officers, Muhammed Dombayci, saw Jackson “notice” their unmarked vehicle, become “startled” and widen his eyes while he “abruptly slowed down his pace,” the lawsuit says. He also reported that he saw Jackson touch his fanny pack in a way that armed individuals concealing a weapon often do. ‘I’m Not Done with You’: Homeless Man Says San Diego Cop Turned Off Bodycam, Beat Him Bloody While Other Officers Watched – and It Wasn’t the First Time The officers “wrongfully used these pretextual and alleged behaviors as justification” to stop and frisk Jackson, who protested and declined their search, repeatedly asking them to call a supervisor, the complaint contends. The officers said they were going to frisk him anyway. Jackson was facing a building and had his arms up on a glass window, the lawsuit says, while officers confusingly told him if he didn’t put his hands up he would be arrested, activity and commands the lawsuit says were captured on police body camera video. Jackson then told four of the officers that he had stitches in his head from recent brain surgery and that he suffers from seizures, the bodycam video allegedly shows. Despite this warning and his ongoing compliance, Officer Wisam Salameh violently threw Jackson to the ground, then kicked him, punched him in the face, chest and stomach, and slammed his face into the ground, the complaint says, aggravating his brain surgery wound. Then Salameh cuffed him and removed his fanny pack. As he was about to walk away with Jackson’s bag, Salameh allegedly turned around and forcefully grabbed Jackson’s scrotum, then said, “That’s for free, bro, don’t even worry about it.” During this sexual assault none of the other officers intervened to protect Jackson, who was handcuffed, the lawsuit claims. Instead, they looked on and laughed. The police report on Jackson’s arrest said Jackson obstructed officers from checking his fanny pack, which was found to contain a handgun loaded with five bullets, reported NorthJersey.com. Despite his complaints of severe and painful injuries, Jackson was walked to and seated in a police car for several minutes as the officers “berated” him, the lawsuit says. Then just after the police car left the arrest scene, a reportedly high-crime area of Paterson, Jackson had a seizure, which Officer Malek Assaf, who was driving, initially perceived as Jackson “deliberately banging his head around in the back seat,” but then agreed to pull over and call an ambulance. When emergency medics arrived, Jackson told them he had just had a seizure and that one of the officers had grabbed his testicles, which still hurt. The officers stood by mocking and laughing at him, remarking they “did not see him foaming at the mouth” and therefore doubted that he’d had a seizure, the complaint says. Jackson was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for the pain in his scrotum and given medication for his seizures, the lawsuit says. He was later diagnosed with an injury to his left testicle requiring surgical treatment, and was told that the severity of the injury could cause infertility. He was then transported to the Paterson Police Department, where he continued to complain of pain from the alleged physical and sexual assaults, the lawsuit says. Jackson was later convicted of unlawful possession of a handgun related to the Nov. 6, 2022 incident, NorthJersey.com reported. He was sentenced in February 2024 to a maximum of 42 months in prison, and was incarcerated at Bayside State Prison in South New Jersey until May 8, when he was paroled. His amended federal civil rights lawsuit charged the city of Paterson, its police department and 12 officers with 13 counts in violation of state and federal law including unlawful search and seizure, false imprisonment, excessive force, assault and battery, denial of medical care, and an equal protection violation alleging that he was beaten and mistreated by the officers due to his race. Judge Semper ruled that Jackson’s claims of excessive force and assault and battery against four officers who were plausibly and specifically identified in the complaint as having physically abused him — Officers Salameh, Dombayci, John Rikowich and Corey Davis — can move forward. But he dismissed those counts against eight other officers. Semper also allowed Jackson’s claim that Officers Malek and Domenic DiCarlo ignored his pleas for medical help after he had a seizure in the back of the patrol car, as well as his claim that the city failed to properly train and supervise its officers. The judge dismissed the allegations of false imprisonment against all of the defendants because they rely on an “improper group pleading,” noting “the court cannot determine which defendants are responsible for plaintiff’s detention following his arrest.” He also dismissed Jackson’s claims of emotional distress and negligence against the officers and the city for lack of specificity. Jackson’s claim of racial discrimination was dismissed because “plaintiff offers only a few conclusory allegations” that he was stopped, searched and assaulted due to his race, without substantiating that claim, the judge wrote. The lawsuit also alleges the department’s policies and practices fostered an environment of misconduct, exhibited “deliberate indifference” to the constitutional rights of citizens, and were “moving forces” behind the mistreatment of Jackson. Semper dismissed all claims against the Paterson Police Department because the department is not considered a separate legal entity from the city of Paterson, which oversees the police department, and is also a defendant. In March 2023 the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General took control of the Paterson Police Department following years of problems, including criminal charges against a dozen officers, millions in legal settlements and fierce criticism of police use of force in the state’s third-largest city, NJ.com reported. Attorney General Matt Platkin appointed Isa Abbassi, a 25-year veteran of the New York Police Department, to run the nearly 400-officer force in Paterson, an industrial city of 160,000 residents. Abbassi was previously tasked by the NYPD with efforts to build community relationships in Staten Island following the 2014 death of Eric Garner in police custody. Platkin and Abbassi embarked on reforms including changes in leadership and expanded community engagement, forming a Police Advisory Council and Police Clergy Council to guide department policies and deepen ties with residents, businesses, churches and local organizations, reported InsiderNJ.They also addressed accountability and oversight of the police by updating use-of-force policies and expanding training in de-escalation and crisis intervention, and launched a risk management program to identify at-risk officers through data monitoring and body-worn camera review. Meanwhile, the social media accounts of the Paterson Police Department continued to celebrate their success in removing guns, drugs and violent offenders from the city, including lauding several of the defendants in Jackson's lawsuit. In May 2023, Officers Salameh and Davis were announced as officers of the month for apprehending a wanted criminal with a semi-automatic handgun. In November 2023, Officers Rikowich and Pombayci were awarded for taking “many illegal guns off the streets.” Paterson officials sued the state over the takeover in October 2024, asserting that no state law explicitly empowered Platkin to declare control of local police forces. In July 2025 the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed the state’s authority to control the Paterson PD. The City of Paterson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Jackson’s lawsuit from Atlanta Black Star. The Paterson Police Department told reporters it will not comment on the case, citing pending litigation. Jackson has 30 days after the judge’s Sept. 22 order slimming down the counts and defendants in case to file a second amended complaint. The current deadline for discovery is October 15.
