Two New Jersey cops charged with assaulting a man and filing a false police report

Two police officers in Paterson, New Jersey, have been charged with assaulting a man in December 2020 and subsequently lying about their actions in a police report, according to court documents filed Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey. Court documents allege the officers threw the man to the ground and struck him repeatedly, and falsely claimed in their report that he had been "acting belligerent" and had struck an officer first.   

Paterson Police Department Officers Kevin Patino, 29, and Kendry Tineo-Restituyo, 28, first met the alleged victim at approximately 12:30 a.m. on December 14 after handling an unrelated call about a suspicious person, the complaint says.  The pair allegedly drove up to the man, stopped the car, and began assaulting him, the complaint said. Patino is accused of grabbing the victim and striking him in the face and body "numerous times" before Tineo-Restituyo allegedly grabbed the man and threw him to the ground. The man has not been publicly identified.