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TRENTON
-- Attorney General Zulima V. Farber announced
that a jailed Camden County man has been
charged via state grand jury indictment
with assaulting and attempting to rob an
undercover state trooper assigned to the
Camden Anti-Crime Partnership. The state
grand jury indictment results from a March,
2004 incident in Camden City which resulted
in the shooting death of an armed co-defendant.
The investigation was conducted by the Attorney
General’s Shooting Response Team.
The State Grand Jury indictment charged
Angel M. Mendoza, 22, Camden City, Camden
County, with first degree robbery, aggravated
assault, and possession of a weapon for
an unlawful purpose. Mendoza remains incarcerated
in the Camden County Jail following his
arrest in Phila., PA on March 25, 2004.
Mendoza faces more than 30 years in state
prison upon conviction of the charges contained
in the indictment.
The state grand jury indictment charges
that the incident occurred at 9:40 p.m.
on March 23, 2004, when Mendoza, along with
deceased co-defendant Joel Torres, 25, Camden,
approached two undercover State Police detectives
sitting in a parked vehicle in the 600 block
of State Street in North Camden. The detectives,
identified as Det. James Carnival and Det.
II John Donegan, were conducting an active,
undercover anti-drug operation. The indictment
charges that Torres and Mendoza, both armed
with handguns, approached the undercover
vehicle, brandished the weapons, announced
“hands-up,” and attempted to
rob the plain clothes detectives. It is
alleged that Torres was shot as he and one
of the detectives struggled over control
of Torres’ .44 caliber weapon. As
a result, Torres was shot in the chest and
was pronounced dead after being admitted
to Cooper Medical Center. Mendoza fled the
scene and was apprehended in Phila. two
days later.
The state grand jury indictment was handed-up
to Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda
R. Feinberg on April 5. An indictment is
merely a charge. The defendant is presumed
innocent until proven guilty in a court
of law. The case has been assigned to the
Camden County Superior Court for trial.
Supervising Deputy Attorney General Jennifer
Gottschalk of the Division of Criminal Justice
presented the case to the state grand jury.
The Attorney General’s Shooting Response
Team is finalizing the overall shooting
investigation and will present the case
to a state grand jury for independent review.
Under an Attorney General directive, the
Attorney General’s Shooting Response
Team, made up of Deputy Attorney’s
General and state investigators from the
Division of Criminal Justice and detectives
from the State Police Major Crime Unit,
are dispatched to the scene of police-involved
shootings to conduct on-site investigation.
The Attorney General’s Shooting Response
Team receives investigative and administrative
support from county and local law enforcement
agencies. The Camden Anti-Crime Partnership
is comprised of the New Jersey State Police,
Camden County Prosecutor’s Office,
Camden County Sheriff’s Department,
Camden City Police Department, DRPA Police
Department, and the New Jersey Transit Authority
Police Department.
Additional information, including a copy
of the State Grand Jury indictment, is available
via the Division of Criminal Justice Web
site at www.njdcj.org.
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