New York — A New Jersey police sergeant has been accused of stealing $10,000 worth of cameras and other equipment from a photojournalist who was injured while covering the incident. Tense protests Outside an immigration prison in Newark.
Darrell Brown, a sergeant with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, was arrested with the missing items after a photojournalist used a geo-tracking device to track her missing equipment to his home, the state prosecutor said Thursday.
Journalist Angelina Katsanis was on assignment for the Associated Press in Delaney Hall On Saturday night when she was hit in the knee by a wooden beam during a clash between police and protesters.
As she headed to a medical tent for care, Katsanis left behind her equipment bag, which contained her name and contact information. When she was eventually allowed to return to the area – now in a wheelchair – the bag was gone.
“I checked my Airtag and the bag was already on a highway quite far away at that point,” Katsanis recalled. “Immediately, I had a feeling it was the police.”
While Katsanis was receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, the Airtag plane sent a signal to a home in Sparta, New Jersey, which was listed as belonging to Brown, according to the prosecutor’s office. The package was later found on the side of the road, miles from the house where it was initially taken.
A later review of Brown’s body camera footage showed him “interacting” with the bag at the protest site, according to the district attorney’s office. A search warrant executed at his home on Wednesday led to the discovery of several missing items, some of which bore Katsanis’ name and phone number, the complaint said.
Information about Brown’s attorney was not immediately available. A message left at the phone number listed for Brown was not immediately returned. He faces charges of third-degree robbery. He has been suspended without pay, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Katsanis, who is trained to cover hostile environments, said the incident left her deeply traumatized.
“I’ve thought a lot about how officers are supposed to be there to uphold the law and protect us and protect property — and this is the exact opposite,” she said.
It has become a detention center flash point For protests against President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown, with frequent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement.
These demonstrations have intensified in recent weeks, with advocates saying that detainees inside have begun a hunger strike due to poor living conditions in the 1,000-bed facility. The federal government denied allegations of substandard conditions and accused protesters of inflaming tensions.
Katsanis said she suffered swelling and bruising to her leg but did not break any bones.