COP’S GUN GOES OFF; TEENAGER HIT IN ARM

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Tuesday, August 20, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page B03

A state trooper wounded a Bronx teenager in the arm Sunday when his service gun went off accidentally during a traffic stop, officials said.
Louis Mancuso, the 17-year-old passenger in a car stopped for alleged speeding, was in fair condition at Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus, a hospital spokesman said Monday.
Trooper Joseph Genova, a three-year veteran of the state police, was not criminally negligent in the shooting, Bergen County First Assistant Prosecutor Paul Brickfield said Monday.
“Our conclusion at this point is that it was an accidental discharge of the weapon,” Brickfield said.
The incident occurred about 8:15 a.m. Sunday in the northbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike in East Rutherford, said Lt. William Hillis, a state police spokesman.
Genova, on patrol in an unmarked car, clocked a 1990 Nissan 300 ZX driven by Vincent Gaudio, 18, of the Bronx at 31 mph over the 55 mph speed limit, police said.
Hillis said Genova, 23, saw a box of ammunition in an open glove compartment while examining Gaudio’s driver’s license.
“He ordered the driver to step out of the car,” Hillis said. “The passenger was ordered to place his hands on the dash. The passenger did not comply, and was again instructed to place his hands on the dash. He made a movement toward the glove box.
“The trooper, fearing a weapon may be in the glove box, drew his service weapon, and the weapon accidentally discharged and struck the passenger in the right bicep.”
No weapon was found in the car.

Keywords: EAST RUTHERFORD; POLICE; ACCIDENT; WEAPON; SHOOTING; YOUTH

ID: 17352888 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)


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