By Stephen Appezzato
RUMSON – The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office (MCPO) Professional Responsibility Unit and Major Crimes Bureau are investigating a police-involved shooting that occurred in the borough during the early morning of Sept. 6.
According to the MCPO, a 27-year-old male Newark resident was shot during a burglary investigation. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment of “non-life-threatening injuries.”
A preliminary investigation revealed that, around 4:45 a.m. Sept. 6, officers from the Rumson Police Department and nearby towns were dispatched to the area of Avenue of Two Rivers South and Shrewsbury Drive after suspected burglaries were reported. As officers were investigating, a Fair Haven Police officer came across two suspects in a moving vehicle.
“During that interaction, that officer fired his service weapon, striking one of the occupants (of the car). The officer who discharged his firearm was not injured, but was also taken to a local hospital as a precaution,” the MCPO reported in a statement.
The identity of the individual who was shot was not initially released by the prosecutor’s office, although complaints filed in Rumson Municipal Court identify the suspects as Nnamdi Atumudo and Rasheen N. Yarbrough. Both face burglary and theft charges.
According to an affidavit of probable cause signed by Detective Michael Donovan of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, at approximately 4:39 a.m. and 4:47 a.m., the Rumson Police Department received two separate calls repor ting an attempted car and home break-in at different residences.
At 4:48 a.m. a Rumson officer reported over the radio the suspects, driving a blue Chrysler 200 with a Missouri registration, hit his car.
Around that time a Fair Haven police officer responded to assist with the burglary investigation. His patrol car was stopped on Avenue of Two Rivers, facing south. As the suspects were being pursued by the Rumson officer, the Fair Haven officer stood outside of his vehicle and ordered the incoming suspects to stop. The suspects’ car continued toward the Fair Haven officer, the driver refusing to stop, and the officer fired multiple shots at the car, at which point the car drove off the road into the bushes and stopped. The car’s occupants were then ordered out of the car and transported to the hospital for treatment.
In the backseat of the suspect’s car the officers noticed a child’s blue electric bike, which was reported stolen in one of the 911 calls. Additionally, a review of one homeowner’s security footage shows two individuals attempting to break into cars wearing clothes consistent with those Atumudo and Yarbrough were wearing when apprehended.
Following that morning’s events, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago warned the public of misinformation surrounding the incident on social media.
“We urge the public and the media to avoid speculation until this investigation has determined the relevant facts with certainty,” Santiago said. “I have every confidence that the detectives from our Professional Responsibility Unit and Major Crimes Bureau will continue to investigate this incident in a meticulous and objective manner. More information about this incident will be released as it becomes available,” he said.
The investigation into the shooting adheres to the state Office of the Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Directive No. 2019-4, which ensures an independent investigation of criminal cases involving police use-of-force or in-custody deaths.
Those with information on the incident are asked to contact PRU Detective Joseph Pahopin or Detective Donovan at 800-533-7443.
The article originally appeared in the September 12 – September 18, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
