Former state trooper sentenced to probation for punching handcuffed woman in Cumberland County

A former New Jersey State Police trooper was sentenced to two years’ probation for punching a handcuffed woman in the face while she sat in the back of a patrol vehicle in Cumberland County two years ago, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Wednesday.

Nicolas J. Hogan, 28, of Gloucester County, who pleaded guilty in July to third-degree aggravated assault, was sentenced on Sept. 30 in Cumberland County by Superior Court Judge Joseph M. Chiarello, who also barred Hogan from all future public employment in New Jersey.

NJ.com reported that Hogan’s attorney, Anthony Pope, sought a sentence of probation, arguing that his client should not go to jail for a “momentary lapse in judgment.”

Hogan was suspended without pay in November 2023, when he was initially charged, Platkin said. Hogan was terminated by state police last month.

”This was an unjustified act of violence against a defenseless, distraught woman,” Platkin said in a statement. “It was not needed to control this situation — the victim was already detained and in handcuffs — and there was no legitimate objective to using force in this instance, violating policy and the law.”

On Sept. 7, 2022, around 1:30 a.m., state troopers responded to a report of a trespasser at a residence in Upper Deerfield Township. On the way to the location, troopers spotted a woman matching the description of the alleged trespasser walking in the middle of the road.

The troopers stopped the woman and determined she needed a medical evaluation. They called for medical personnel as other troopers, including Hogan, arrived.

The woman, who was detained but not under arrest, Platkin said, became increasingly distraught, protested her detainment, and attempted to walk away. She was then handcuffed and placed in the back of a marked police vehicle.

Platkin said that the woman “asked multiple times for a tissue but was never given one. Prior to being placed in the vehicle, the victim was spitting on the ground, apparently because she had been upset and crying, and body-worn camera footage shows fluid and mucus on her face and falling from her mouth.”

While in the police vehicle, “the victim spat in the direction of a trooper standing near the open rear passenger door. Hogan was standing on the other side of the car, outside the rear driver’s side. He opened the door and warned the victim, ‘If you [obscenity] spit on a trooper,’ as the victim turned toward him and spat again, this time in his direction,” Platkin said.

”Hogan then punched the victim in the face while grasping the metallic flashlight in his clenched fist. At the time, the victim’s hands were in handcuffs behind her back and she was secured in the vehicle’s back seat,” Platkin said.

The woman suffered a contusion and her nose was dislocated, her attorney, Stanley King, said in July. All charges against the woman were dropped.

“She had no intention of spitting in anyone’s direction, her face was full of tears and mucus,” King said. “She was harmless, defenseless, and in need of medical attention.”