A former New Jersey state trooper who pleaded guilty to punching a woman while she was handcuffed in the back of a squad car two years ago was sentenced to two years of probation on Thursday, the New Jersey Office of Attorney General said.
The incident happened in Upper Deerfield, Cumberland County, during the early morning hours of Sept. 7, 2022. Nicholas Hogan, 28, of Gibbstown, Gloucester County, was among the state troopers investigating a report of a woman who was trespassing and appeared to be intoxicated, authorities said.
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After the woman was handcuffed and placed in the back of the squad car, Hogan claimed she spit in the direction of another trooper from the backseat. He then leaned into the car to warn the woman, who spit in his direction, prosecutors said. Hogan responded by striking the woman while carrying a metal flashlight in his hand.
Investigators reviewed bodycam footage that shows the woman crying and her face covered in mucous. The woman had asked for a tissue multiple times but was never given one, prosecutors said. From the back of the squad car, she was seen spitting on the ground from an open passenger door, including in the area of a trooper standing nearby.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Hogan had "inexcusably crossed the line" by hitting the woman, who filed a lawsuit against state police, Hogan and other troopers in August.
Hogan pleaded guilty to third-degree aggravated assault in July. As part of his sentence in New Jersey Superior Court in Cumberland County, Judge Joseph M. Chiarello suspended the jail term of 364 days. Hogan will not have to serve that time if he meets the conditions of his probation.
Hogan was suspended without pay after he was charged in November 2023. He was fired by state police last month. Hogan's sentence bans him from future public employment.
“This was an unjustified act of violence against a defenseless, distraught woman," Platkin said Wednesday. "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."
Last month, Platkin's office ordered sweeping state police reforms after a pair of investigations found "deeply troubling conduct" related to the department's handling of internal complaints and allegations of racial profiling within the agency.
During the investigation of the incident in Upper Deerfield, the attorney general's office did not identify the woman who was hit by Hogan. In the lawsuit, filed in August, she's identified as Tiffany Conto.
The suit claims Conto was arrested that night and charged with throwing bodily fluid at a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, NJ.com reported. The charges were dropped two weeks after the incident.
Conto's lawsuit alleges that after she was struck, she was taken back to a state police barracks and had her face pressed into a cement wall while she was searched. Conto said she was treated at a hospital for injuries to her face, neck and shoulder and then spent 10 days in jail, including seven in solitary confinement, according to the lawsuit.
Conto said she suffered severe emotional distress in addition to her injuries. She is seeking $1.5 million in damages.