A decorated Newark police detective whose background was highlighted in a petition the ACLU filed earlier this month seeking federal oversight of the department, pleaded guilty today to beating a handcuffed prisoner four years ago.
Vernon Parker, 37, of West Orange, faces eight years in prison for fracturing Shannon Taylor’s eye socket and shattering his jaw during a 2006 assault at the Franklin Street lockup, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino said.
Parker, an 11-year veteran of the force, also pleaded guilty in a separate, unrelated incident, to endangerment for disciplining his teenage stepdaughter, Laurino said. And in a third case, he was convicted in July of physically abusing the girl, said Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office.
"We are pleased with the resolution of this case," Assistant Prosecutor John Anderson said. "We hope it sends a clear message that this office will investigate and prosecute wrongdoing by police officers when appropriate."
Parker was one of 11 Newark police officers facing criminal charges who were identified in the New Jersey American Civil Liberties Union’s petition. The petition, which calls for a federal monitor to oversee the state’s largest police department, cited 407 lawsuits and allegations of misconduct, and claimed the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau was incapable of disciplining officers.
According to the petition, only one of 261 "serious" internal affairs complaints were substantiated over a two-year period.
Detective Hubert Henderson, a police spokesman, would not disclose Parker’s Internal Affairs record, but said the plea deal likely means the end of his career.
"Since he has plead guilty, the department is now going to move through our disciplinary process to terminate him," Henderson said. "We’re not going to delve into his disciplinary record, but we are going to go through the process we need to go through to move for termination."
Parker had been suspended without pay since he was indicted on assault and misconduct charges in 2008, Henderson said. Parker is being held at the Essex County jail. He will be sentenced Oct. 22.
Appearing before Superior Court Judge Ronald Wiger in Newark today, Parker admitted he beat a handcuffed Taylor after arresting him on a municipal warrant on Sept. 19, 2006. Anderson, the assistant prosecutor, said Parker ignored police protocol when he drove Taylor around the city for an hour in an unmarked police cruiser and arrested six other people before returning to the lock-up.
Once inside the Franklin Street facility, Taylor, 43, asked to file a complaint with Parker’s supervisor, Anderson said. Instead of taking Taylor to see a ranking officer, Parker dragged Taylor into a storage room and beat him unconscious, Anderson said.
In addition to a fractured eye socket and broken jaw, Taylor suffered other injuries to his face, Anderson said, adding that at least eight other people "heard" the assault. Taylor was taken to University Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries, Anderson said.
As part of a plea deal, the prosecutor’s office dismissed assault and misconduct charges against Officer Kyle Bowman and Sgt. Marilouise Bailey, whom Anderson said were with Parker the night of the incident but did not take part in the assault.
Bowman and Bailey were suspended after the incident and then placed on administrative leave, police said.
Anthony Fusco Jr., who represented all three officers, called yesterday’s guilty plea a "sad day" for Parker, who received a medal of excellence from then-Mayor Sharpe James after he was shot during a 2006 gun battle three years earlier.
"I’ve known Vernon a long time, and with the exception of these two episodes, he was one productive officer. I feel terrible about it," Fusco said. "By him pleading guilty, the state agreed to dismiss charges against the other officers. It’s a sad day for Vernon. The other officers are happy and relieved."
