A Lyndhurst man is facing an aggravated assault charge after police say he called 911 reporting he was under attack, then turned on the officer who responded to help him. Frederick D. Penamartinez was taken into custody early Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, near 500 Fifth Avenue after allegedly shoving a lieutenant and grabbing his vest during a chaotic overnight stop, according to authorities.
The strange sequence began at approximately 1:21 a.m., when Penamartinez called 911 and reported that he was being attacked, then hung up without giving further details, according to Deputy Chief Paul Haggerty, as reported by Daily Voice. Lt. Francis O'Rourke, Officer Anthony Morreale and Officer Jorge Fernandez all responded to the call, per the same account. Morreale was the first to spot two men standing in the street, and when one of them began walking west on Fifth Avenue and ignored commands to stop, the encounter escalated fast.
That man was identified as Penamartinez, who police say approached O'Rourke with clenched fists before shoving him and grabbing his outer vest. Officers brought Penamartinez to the ground and handcuffed him, the station's report states. Police described him as highly intoxicated at the time of the arrest.
Charges and Custody Status
Penamartinez was medically cleared before being lodged in the Bergen County Jail on a complaint warrant, authorities said. He has been charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. Under New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 2C:12-1(b)(5)(a), simple assault against a uniformed or identifiable officer performing official duties is automatically elevated to aggravated assault, a charge that carries its own tiered penalties under state law, according to the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall. A conviction is a fourth-degree crime punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine, rising to a third-degree crime carrying up to five years if the officer suffers bodily injury.
It remains unclear whether O'Rourke was hurt during the physical struggle. Penamartinez reported being under attack before hanging up. Knowingly placing a 911 call without the purpose of reporting a need for 911 service is a fourth-degree offense of causing a false public alarm under New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 2C:33-3(e), punishable by up to 18 months in state prison and a $10,000 fine, according to Morristown Criminal Law.
What Comes Next for Penamartinez
Because Penamartinez was arrested on a complaint warrant in Bergen County, New Jersey's Criminal Justice Reform Act requires Pretrial Services to complete a Public Safety Assessment within 48 hours, guiding a Superior Court judge on whether to release him or schedule a formal detention hearing, per the Lustberg Law Offices. The state's reform law eliminated cash bail in favor of this risk-based review process. It is also unresolved whether the second man seen near 500 Fifth Avenue was connected to an earlier dispute that led to the 911 call.
Department Response and Leadership
Deputy Chief Haggerty, who was sworn into his current post on April 16, defended the officers' handling of the confrontation. “Being under the influence is no excuse for poor decisions, and assaulting a law enforcement officer in Lyndhurst will not be tolerated,” Haggerty said. He added that anyone who assaults a Lyndhurst officer “will be charged without question,” and he commended the responding officers for taking control of the situation.
O'Rourke, the supervisor who was shoved during the encounter, was promoted to lieutenant in the department's Patrol Division in February 2025 after previously serving as a sergeant and local delegate for Policemen's Benevolent Association Local 202. Officer Morreale, who first spotted the two men in the street, joined the department's patrol division in early 2021 after completing 22 weeks of basic training at the Bergen County Police Academy and 12 weeks of field evaluation, according to the Lyndhurst Police Department's 2021 annual report.
The third responding officer, Jorge Fernandez, received a 30-day suspension in 2025 after an internal investigation found he had submitted an altered wedding invitation to avoid a mandatory inspection, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's 2025 Major Discipline Report as detailed by Daily Voice. The department operates under accreditation from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, which it earned in March 2020, and its patrol officers and supervisors are covered by a PBA Local 202 contract running through the end of this year.
