SAYREVILLE — A police officer used a conducted energy device on Monday to subdue a 46-year-old borough man to prevent him from attempting to kill himself, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan and Chief John Zebrowski of the Sayreville Police Department announced.
The man, whose identity was not released, was taken to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy shortly after the conducted energy device was deployed at 12:27 p.m. He was being treated at the hospital for a self-inflicted injury to his neck, but authorities did not release details about his condition.
According to the prosecutor’s office, police decided to use the conducted energy device to prevent the man from further harming himself, and made the decision in accordance with guidelines established by the state Office of the Attorney General, which was notified of the incident.
Police responded to the man’s home at 10:48 a.m. to find him inside the home, holding a knife to his neck.
Police repeatedly attempted to convince him not to harm himself. At 11:16 a.m. police contacted the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Special Operations Response Team (SORT), which sent approximately 15 officers to the scene to cordon off the area.
A member of SORT, trained and qualified to use the conducted energy device, was among those dispatched to the scene, while another SORT member continued negotiating with the man in an attempt to convince him to drop the knife. At one point, the man began cutting his neck with the knife.
No one else was injured during the incident.
The SORT officer who deployed the conducted energy device is one of about 60 law enforcement officers in Middlesex County who have undergone extensive training and have been qualified to use the conducted energy devices.
No charges have been filed, but an investigation is active and is continuing.
