Dash cam footage cleared a New Jersey police officer of wrongdoing after a disgruntled local woman alleged he yelled at and pointed his gun at her during a traffic stop.
Pequannock Police mailed Hyacinth Peccoo, 50, a criminal complaint for making a false report stemming from a traffic stop at the intersection of Lincoln Park Road and Oak Avenue Oct. 15, the Daily Record reports.
Officer Daniel Caffrey, a 12-year veteran, issued Peccoo a traffic summons for failing to change the address on her driver’s license – a $29 offense that does not impose points – rather than the $85 ticket and two points for failing to stop at a stop sign.
Police contend Peccoo paid the ticket Oct. 28 before heading over to police headquarters to file a complaint against Caffrey. Peccoo alleged she was pulled over despite stopping completely at the stop sign, and alleged Caffrey yelled at her and pulled out his service weapon and pointed it at her, NJ.com reports.
Pequannock Police Capt. Christopher DePuyt told NorthJersey.com Peccoo met with Internal Affairs Detective Lt. Michael Fairweather to relay her story.
“Ms. Peccoo stated that she asked the officer if he was going to kill her in broad daylight,” according to a police statement cited by the Daily Record.
Fairweather recorded the interview with Peccoo, and took her statement, before advising the woman the traffic stop was recorded by the patrol car’s video system.
“Fairweather and Ms. Peccoo then reviewed the six-minute video that showed all of her allegations to be false,” the statement read. “During the traffic stop, the officer never yelled at Ms. Peccoo and never removed his firearm from its holster.”
“It was a completely amicable, easygoing traffic stop,” DePuyt told North Jersey.
“This is one of those cases where it’s: thank God for the video,” he said, adding that Pecco made the complaint “completely out of revenge.”
“She made the whole thing up,” DePuyt said. “We really have enough to worry about.”
Police officials released the dash cam video to the media for good measure.
DePuyt said Caffrey is expected to appear in municipal court to face the false report charge – a disorderly person offense – on Dec. 14.
The captain said the department has had video systems in patrol vehicles for eight years, and is working to expand the program to include body cameras in the coming years, North Jersey reports.
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