The Attorney General’s Office is investigating the death of a motorcycle operator who was fatally injured in a motor vehicle accident on June 16, after officers of the Woodbridge Township Police Department attempted to stop him on Route 1.
The decedent has been identified as Odean Cummings, 29, of Woodbridge, according to updated information released on June 22.
The police officers who attempted to stop Cummings are Officer Marco Bruno, who was driving the marked police vehicle, and Officer Connor Watters, who was a passenger in the police vehicle, according to the statement.
The accident occurred shortly before 10 a.m. on June 16 in the northbound lanes of Route 1 at Randolph Avenue in Woodbridge. Bruno reportedly activated the emergency lights on the marked patrol vehicle he was driving in an attempt to make a traffic stop of Cummings, according to reports. Cummings allegedly accelerated, and Bruno then deactivated his emergency lights, according to reports.
Cummings continued northbound on his motorcycle and was involved in an accident in which he was struck by a truck, according to reports. He was pronounced dead at the scene at approximately 10:01 a.m.
This investigation is being conducted pursuant to Attorney General Directive 2019-4, which implements the statutory requirement that the Attorney General’s Office conduct the investigation of any death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody, and which establishes clear standards and procedures for conducting such investigations.
The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.
