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Julius Filep

Age : 55

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 08/01/2021

Location : 260 NJ-18

City : East Brunswick

County : Middlesex

State : New Jersey

Agency : East Brunswick Police Department

Officer(s) :Officer Mitchell Ngai

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Pedestrian bystander killed by police vehicle

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/01/2021, 55-year-old Julius Filep of Edison was killed when East Brunswick Police Department Patrolman Mitchell Ngai struck him with a marked police vehicle on Route 18 while Ngai was responding to an earlier serious crash and electrical fire. Filep was outside his disabled vehicle following the first collision and was standing in the northbound roadway near the concrete median when Ngai struck him.
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The events began shortly before 3:35 a.m. with an unrelated crash on Route 18. A vehicle struck a utility pole, knocking the pole and electrical wires into the highway. Multiple vehicles subsequently became disabled after encountering debris. On the southbound side, another vehicle and an 18-wheel truck drove over the downed wires, causing electrical arcing and fire.
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Filep was one of the motorists affected by the original crash. He and others called 911. East Brunswick officers were dispatched to the scene with information that there had been a crash and that electrical wires were down.
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Ngai was on duty, in uniform and driving a marked East Brunswick police vehicle. Because of his location when he received the emergency call, he approached the incident traveling northbound on Route 18. He arrived in the area approximately five minutes after the initial collision.
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At that time, Filep was standing in the left northbound lane near the concrete median. Investigators reported that he was wearing a black shirt and black shorts and that this portion of Route 18 was not illuminated by streetlights. An active electrical fire was burning on the opposite side of the highway.
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Ngai's police vehicle first struck a wooden utility pole that had been knocked into the roadway during the original crash. His vehicle then struck Filep before continuing into one of the vehicles disabled by the earlier collision.
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Emergency personnel rendered medical aid to Filep and transported him by ambulance to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 4:13 a.m.
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The New Jersey Attorney General's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability assumed the investigation because Filep's death resulted from an encounter with an on-duty law-enforcement officer. Investigators collected and reviewed witness statements, video from a nearby business, citizen dash-camera footage, the event-data recorder from Ngai's police vehicle, multiple 911 calls, police radio transmissions and Filep's autopsy findings.
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On 09/16/2021, the Attorney General's Office publicly released private-security video and audio from 911 and police radio communications concerning the fatal collision. Before releasing the recordings, investigators met with Filep's family and their attorney to review the material.
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The completed investigation was presented to a New Jersey state grand jury. On 07/24/2023, the grand jury returned a no bill and determined that no criminal charges should be filed against Ngai.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Patrolman Mitchell Ngai of the East Brunswick Police Department was identified by the New Jersey Attorney General as the officer driving the marked patrol vehicle that struck and killed Julius Filep. The fatal collision underwent an independent state investigation and grand-jury review. On 07/24/2023, the grand jury declined to criminally charge Ngai.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.nj.com/middlesex/2021/08/pedestrian-hit-killed-by-east-brunswick-police-officer-during-response-to-call.html
https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/2021/08/02/pedestrian-struck-and-killed-east-brunswick-police-car-route-18/5461842001/
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/east-brunswick/sections/police-and-fire/articles/east-brunswick-police-vehicle-involved-in-fatal-pedestrian-crash-on-route-18
https://www.njoag.gov/updated-attorney-generals-office-investigating-fatal-accident-in-which-police-vehicle-struck-pedestrian-in-east-brunswick/
https://www.njoag.gov/ags-office-releases-video-and-audio-recordings-related-to-fatal-incident-in-which-police-vehicle-struck-pedestrian-in-east-brunswick-on-august-1-2021/
https://www.njoag.gov/update-state-grand-jury-declines-to-criminally-charge-officer-who-struck-a-motorist-outside-of-a-disabled-vehicle-while-responding-to-a-multiple-car-accident-and-fire-in-east-brunswick/