A New York City photojournalist, injured last week while covering a violent protest at Delaney Hall in Newark, dropped her camara bag containing $10,000 worth of equipment. When she headed to the hospital, the bag was left behind.
On Wednesday, some of her belongings turned up at the home of a police officer who had plucked her bag from the scene, according to the state Attorney General’s Office. Key to finding them were an Apple AirTag and the officer’s body-worn camera footage, authorities said.
Darryl J. Brown, an Essex County Prosecutor’s Office sergeant, is charged with third-degree theft of property valued at more than $500, a felony. If convicted, Brown, 43, of Sparta, could face three to five years in prison and fines of as much as $10,000.
“So many police officers conduct themselves with integrity, uphold the law, maintain order and public safety, and serve our communities with distinction in the face of great challenges, day in and day out,” Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement. “When an officer does what is alleged in this case, it is a disservice to the profession and the public.”
Brown was suspended without pay pending the outcome of an investigation by Davenport’s office, according to Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II. “Conduct that undermines the public’s trust in law enforcement is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Stephens said. His office “remains committed to accountability, integrity, and maintaining the public’s trust in the criminal justice system.
‘Chaos inside and outside’
Activists have assembled outside Delaney Hall since late May in support of immigrants who say they are mistreated, denied medical care and served rotten and worm-riddled food. State and Newark health inspectors have been denied full access to the building, while U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, after a visit on May 26, said he witnessed “chaos inside and outside of the ICE detention center.” Over the weekend, at least 60 demonstrators were arrested.
The photojournalist was identified as Angelina Katsanis by The Associated Press, which said she was on assignment for the news service. Katsanis, in an interview with The AP, said she had been hit in the knee with a wood beam during a clash between police and demonstrators.
Court documents referred to her only by the initials A.K., a standard practice to protect alleged crime victims’ privacy.
After she was treated for her injury, she returned to the area, only to found the bag gone.
“She tracked the location of an Apple AirTag location device she had affixed to one of the items that was contained within the bag” to Brown’s home in Sparta, the affidavit filed in Newark Municipal Court reads. “That AirTag was later recovered, without the other items, by a friend of A.K.’s several miles away from that initial tracked location.”
Brown, investigators found, “had been deployed to the area of Delaney Hall” on Saturday. His body-worn camera showed him “interacting with a dark-colored bag” like that described by the photographer.
Search warrant
Investigators, granted a search warrant, combed Brown’s home “and several of the items reported missing by A.K. were recovered with her ownership labels still affixed.”
Authorities seized other evidence including at least one unidentified weapon, cash and one or more cellphones.
Brown did not have an attorney listed in the court documents. He is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Newark on July 7.
Democrats and immigration advocates are demanding the closing of Delaney Hall, owned by Geo Group Inc. and operated under a $1 billion, 15-year contract with ICE. Geo Group says it supplies what its contract demands.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, says people who are being detained “are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers.”
