IAN M. SCHWEIZER v. NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE (L-1733-19, SOMERSET COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)


NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3. SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-2075-20 IAN M. SCHWEIZER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE, COLONEL PATRICK J. CALLAHAN, LIEUTENANT CHRISTOPHER GHILON, LIEUTENANT J. WIDOVIC, TROOPER K.M. BUONOMO, SERGEANT BRIAN E. WEISS, DETECTIVE GREGORY C. LEWIS, DETECTIVE SERGEANT MATTHEW M. MCCURRY, DETECTIVE SHANE D. KRISANDA, DETECTIVE DARREN CRANE, SERGEANT D. O'KEEFFE, DETECTIVE MULLER, and DETECTIVE M. HERRICK, Defendants, and DETECTIVE JUSTIN J. DELORENZO, Defendant-Respondent. ________________________ Submitted March 16, 2022 – Decided September 8, 2022 Before Judges Gilson and Gooden Brown. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Somerset County, Docket No. L-1733-19. Hanlon Dunn Robertson, attorneys for appellant (Wayne G. Perry, on the briefs). Flahive Mueller, Attorneys at Law, LLC, attorneys for respondent (John P. Mueller, on the brief). PER CURIAM Plaintiff Ian Schweizer appeals from the February 23, 2021 Law Division order granting summary judgment to defendant, Detective Justin DeLorenzo, and dismissing Schweizer's complaint with prejudice. The complaint alleged DeLorenzo committed constitutional and statutory violations as well as various torts in connection with arresting and charging Schweizer with a criminal offense. In dismissing the complaint, the motion judge determined DeLorenzo was entitled to qualified immunity. We affirm. A-2075-20 2 I. We derive the following facts from evidence the parties submitted in support of and opposition to the summary judgment motion. "At the summary judgment stage, in deciding the issue of qualified immunity, our jurisprudence requires that the evidence be viewed in the light most favorable to [the plaintiff]." Baskin v. Martinez, 243 N.J. 112, 119 (2020). According to the undisputed facts in the record, on February 7, 2017, Schweizer voluntarily appeared at a New Jersey State Police station for questioning regarding an alleged sexual assault in a bar parking lot. About a week earlier, a woman reported to DeLorenzo that Schweizer had put his hand down the front of her pants and touched her without her consent after the two had met for a date. During the February 7 interview, Schweizer acknowledged he had touched the woman and that she became upset and abruptly fled. Schweizer sent an apologetic text message to the woman hours later saying "[he] got carried away." Upon concluding there was probable cause to arrest, DeLorenzo took Schweizer into custody and then contacted the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office (SCPO) to present the results of his investigation. After reviewing the evidence, members of the SCPO informed DeLorenzo that it had decided not to A-2075-20 3 prosecute based on deficiencies in the proofs. Nonetheless, DeLorenzo subsequently sought a complaint-warrant for Schweizer's arrest, which a municipal court judge issued after determining there was probable cause. The following day, a Superior Court judge dismissed the charges at the SCPO's request …

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