A South Jersey man received $325,000 to settle a federal lawsuit he filed alleging that a police officer ran him off the road and held a gun to his head.
William Fulbrook was driving to work on a roadway in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, early one morning in February 2017 when he claimed another driver ran a red light and cut into his lane of travel. He flashed his high-beams to express his displeasure with the other driver, according to his lawsuit.
That other driver, as it turned out, was a Monroe cop in an unmarked car, according to Fulbrook.
Matthew Buerklin pulled to the side of the road, let Fulbrook pass, then pulled behind him with his high-beams on, before pulling alongside him and “effectively running Plaintiff’s car off the road,” according to the suit.
Buerklin jumped out of his car with a gun in one hand and a flashlight in the other, and allegedly yelled “Freeze, mother(expletive),” while putting his gun “very close” to Fulbrook’s head.
"How do you like that, mother(expletive)," Buerklin continued, according to the suit. "Now what are you going to do, mother(expletive)?"
Fulbrook claimed he pleaded with Buerklin not to shoot him.
Other officers arrived and Fulbrook was issued tickets for improper use of high-beams and following too closely, but they were later dismissed in municipal court.
One of the officers at the scene apologized to Fulbrook and said Buerklin was making them write the tickets, according to the suit, which named Buerklin, police Chief John McKeown and the township as defendants.
The suit claimed excessive force, false arrest, malicious prosecution, assault and civil rights violations.
The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office investigated the incident and found that Buerklin violated some state use of force guidelines for police, but decided they would not bring criminal charges, Fulbrook’s attorney, Kevin McCann, said in 2018. The matter was sent back to the township, but it’s not clear if Buerklin faced any discipline over the incident.
He remains employed with the department.
Under terms of a settlement agreement reached in May, Fulbrook was paid $325,000 in the form of a single check made payable to his attorney.
The township admitted no wrongdoing and the parties agreed the settlement was “entered into solely to avoid the continuing expense and distraction of litigation,” according to the agreement.
After the suit was filed in 2018, McCann said the incident left his client shaken.
"My client is a construction worker and he's scared stiff of this guy," McCann said. "And my client's a big dude."
The settlement was first reported by open public records advocate John Paff.
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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
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Motorist gets $325K to settle claim cop threatened him with gun - NJ.com
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