It took four years and a scathing federal investigation, but a New Jersey cop who pepper-sprayed a Black man, then falsified documents to justify the abuse, has been indicted by the state on five felony counts that could send him to prison for decades if convicted.
Trenton Police Detective Aaron Bernstein, a 24-year veteran of the law enforcement agency, was indicted last week by a grand jury for pepper-spraying the 27-year-old Black man in May 2022.
The 51-year-old cop is facing one charge of aggravated assault, one count of perjury, one count of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and two counts of official misconduct – the latter two charges that come with a mandatory minimum sentence under state law.
But while there have been many New Jersey cops indicted on official misconduct over the years, most are not sentenced to prison because prosecutors usually offer them deals allowing them to plead to charges without mandatory minimum sentences, according to a 2020 ProPublica investigation…