Juan Restrepo, a 73-year-old church handyman from Summit, was found confused behind the wheel of a damaged rental car on Chestnut Street in Newark after rear-ending another vehicle near a McCarter Highway intersection. Officers approached him at approximately 9:30 a.m. on June 15, 2020, and believed he was drunk. The police encounter ended by 11:47 a.m.; Restrepo was pronounced dead at 1:17 p.m. in police custody, and his widow will now receive a $2.5 million settlement from Newark and NJ Transit.
According to NJ.com, Restrepo had already caused damage to both vehicles in the earlier collision but was not ticketed for it. A nearby convenience store owner called 911 about a customer she believed was intoxicated, and when Newark officers arrived, they found Restrepo sitting confused in the front seat of the rental car, its hood busted and airbags deployed. Newark officers Lorenzo Orsi and Lucfred Petion believed he had been drinking, according to a separate NJ.com report, and took him to an NJ Transit police precinct at Newark Penn Station for a breathalyzer test.
Restrepo struggled to walk straight and had trouble standing even though he did not smell of alcohol, the outlet reported. He struggled to communicate with officers and follow their orders outside the convenience store. When he could not keep pace on his own, four officers — a mix of Newark and NJ Transit police — picked him up by his arms and legs and carried him through the Penn Station concourse. One officer threatened to charge him with resisting arrest if he did not keep moving.
Arrested for Refusing a Test He Couldn't Complete
Restrepo could not complete the breathalyzer test, and police arrested him for refusing to take it. He then collapsed in the back of a police cruiser while being taken for further processing on drunk-driving charges, the same report states. He was taken by ambulance to St. Michael's Medical Center, where he was declared dead. The police encounter had begun at approximately 9:30 a.m. and ended by 11:47 a.m. that day, June 15, 2020.
An autopsy found no drugs or alcohol in Restrepo's system, per the outlet's reporting. According to Daily Voice, the medical examiner attributed his death to atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease. Family medical experts said Restrepo died in police custody after suffering a heart attack caused by dangerous blood sugar levels, and said he was not diagnosed with any alcohol or drugs in his system.
Newark Attorneys Pointed to Intoxication Symptoms
Newark attorneys said Restrepo denied being sick or having medical disabilities, and described his symptoms as classic signs of intoxication. In a pretrial filing, city attorney Adrien Moncur wrote that symptoms associated with intoxication can also be associated with the medical conditions family experts believe caused Restrepo's death. Newark and NJ Transit denied wrongdoing in legal filings and said their officers acted in good faith when they concluded Restrepo was under the influence.
A state grand jury declined to criminally charge the officers involved, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General announced in September 2022. Restrepo's family had sued four months earlier, filing a wrongful death civil suit in state superior court alleging negligence, failure to provide medical care and unlawful arrest. The suit named Newark police, NJ Transit police and the officers involved.
A Settlement Reached on the Eve of Trial
The settlement was reached on the cusp of a civil trial this past June, with Newark agreeing to pay $1.75 million and NJ Transit agreeing to pay $750,000, totaling the $2.5 million settlement for Restrepo's widow, Rocio Restrepo. A Newark police spokeswoman, Catherine Adams, declined to comment on the settlement, and an NJ Transit spokesperson also declined comment.
Restrepo's attorney, Stewart Leviss, said the settlement reflects what Restrepo experienced and endured in police custody. Leviss said officers had a responsibility to obtain a medical evaluation but failed to follow their own procedures. Restrepo's family has said officers could have saved him by obtaining medical attention instead of treating him as a drunk driver.
Remembered as a Beloved Church Sexton
Restrepo immigrated to the United States from Colombia in the 1970s and spoke English, Spanish and Italian. He worked odd jobs over the years, including at a call center for an Italian grocery store chain, before spending more than 20 years as a handyman at Christ Church in Summit. The Rev. Charles Rush said Restrepo served as a beloved sexton at the church for about two decades, and the church community continues to mourn his loss.
Restrepo also helped care for an adult son with special needs. Since his death, his widow, Rocio Restrepo, has returned to Colombia, where the couple's son now resides. Restrepo's case is one of dozens the state has tracked since 2019, when the New Jersey Attorney General's Office began overseeing investigations into every police-involved death in the state. A review by NJ Advance Media identified 75 such death investigations since the law took effect, finding that the roundup included people who suffered medical episodes while in police custody and that nearly four in 10 of those probes remained unresolved at the time of publication.
