New Jersey Police Leave Teens Locked in Van For 14 Hours Without Heat or Water

Police in Fort Lee, New Jersey are accused of locking a van of teens in a police van without heat or water for 14 hours. The teens were rounded up at high school house party over the weekend and apparently forgotten until a passerby heard the teens screaming.

The police raid the party at 1;30 am after noise complaints from neighbors. They were left in temperatures in the twenties without access to a bathroom. They had to go to the bathroom in the crowded van.

There is obviously ample grounds for a torts lawsuit for negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress. False imprisonment could be a problem for lack of intent, though some courts might allow substantial certainty as a substitute. However, false imprisonment is rare against police officers who are more appropriately subject to false or unlawful arrest claims. Here the police would argue a valid basis for arrest while acknowledging negligence in the aftermath of the arrest.

Source: NBC