Fueled by 'alcohol or drugs,' cop assaults on the rise in this N.J. city

Updated ; Posted

By Caitlin Mota

The Jersey Journal

 

HOBOKEN - Three Hoboken police officers were assaulted during arrests this week, prompting a social media response from the police chief, who said his cops are being assaulted by bar-goers far too often.

The latest assaults left an ex-Marine in jail for Christmas and a New York man slapped with terroristic threat charges after saying he would come back and shoot a police sergeant when he was released from custody, authorities said.

The chief said the attacks on police are fueled by alcohol and drugs.

At about 3 a.m. on Sunday, police spotted "pushing and shoving" on Hudson Street near Newark Street. The officers met 24-year-old Vincent Bordano, who identified himself as a former Marine, said he was angry that someone had hit his girlfriend, Hoboken police said in a statement.

Police said his girlfriend, 30-year-old Eileen Boyce, was drunk and the officers requested an ambulance for her. Bordano tried pulling Boyce away from police because he did not want her to go to the hospital. Boyce punched an officer in the chest and the officer fell to the ground, police said.

Bordano "took a fighting stance" and bit an officer during his arrest. Boyce started kicking and flailing, forcing officers to use their pepper spray. A few minutes later, both were placed under arrest. Boyce was released on a summons and Bordano was remanded to the Hudson County jail.

Then just after midnight on Wednesday, police were called to break up a fight involving a knife at 1 Republik. The officers arrived and arrested 28-year-old Christopher Spillane, who started banging on a glass window with his sister. He was holding a fork, which authorities first thought was a knife, and threatened to kill the officers, police said.

The officers handcuffed him in front of his body because he had a metal brace on his arm. He and his sister were able to break away from police. When police finally brought him into custody, he tried hitting the cops with the brace, the release indicates.

At police headquarters, Spillane repeatedly threw himself to the floor and kicked an officer. Police used restraints to bring him under control and he was transported to a hospital for treatment. Before he was taken away, he said he would come back to shoot one of the sergeants, police said.

One officer, who was punched and bit, was out of work for several days, while another officer, who restrained Spillane, suffered a cut near his eye.

Hoboken Police Chief Ken Ferrante commented about the incidents on Twitter, saying at least 10 officers have been assaulted in past two months. Some of those assaults stemmed from the rowdy SantaCon bar crawl earlier this month.

Over past 2 months, situations of individuals under (the influence) of alcohol or drugs, fighting officers or attacking officers as they (make) arrests is becoming too frequent," he wrote. 

Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.