Moriarty Files Criminal Complaint against Arresting Officer

New Jersey Assemblyman Paul Moriarty has filed criminal complaints against the Washington Township police officer who arrested him July 31 on the charge of driving while intoxicated, the Gloucester County Times reported Wednesday.

Moriarty alleges in the complaints, which were filed Tuesday, that Officer Joseph Dibuonaventura committed perjury and official misconduct, filed false police reports, and falsified and tampered with public records, according to the report.

"What happened to me a few months ago shouldn't happen to anyone. There was no legal reason to even stop my car," Moriarty said in a statement issued to the Times. "This officer crossed the line."

Moriarty, a former Washington Township mayor and four-term assemblyman whose district includes Gloucester Township, has denied consuming any alcoholic beverages the day he was arrested on the DWI charge. He has also publicly claimed his arrest was a case of an "abuse of power."

Moriarty is scheduled to make an initial appareance on the DWI charge in Bridgeton Municipal Court on Thursday, Nov. 8. The case was moved to the Cumberland County town's court to avoid conflicts of interest.

In addition to DWI, Dibuonaventura cited Moriarty for refusing to submit to blood-alcohol content testing and failing to maintain a lane.

Patch Media Corp., the parent company of Gloucester Township Patch, is suing Washington Township for access to the police cruiser's dashboard camera video of Dibuonaventura's arrest of the Democratic 4th Legislative District assemblyman.

Washington Township's custodian of police records, Capt. Richard Leonard, and it solicitor, John Armano, denied repeated requests by Patch for the video.