Judge dismisses indictment against Suffolk cop accused of filing false police report in Cruz case

A Suffolk County judge has dismissed a criminal indictment against a Suffolk police officer who was charged with falsely claiming in a police report that a suspected car thief resisted arrest, a court order released Wednesday shows.

Suffolk County Judge Timothy P. Mazzei wrote that the evidence submitted to a grand jury in the case was "not legally sufficient" to support the charge against Suffolk Police Officer Matthew Cameron.

"The court has examined the minutes of the grand jury presentation in camera and it is the determination of the court that the evidence presented in this proceeding was not legally sufficient to support the charge contained in the indictment," Mazzei wrote in the order, which was made public Wednesday.

Cameron, 33, of Commack, was indicted last December on a single misdemeanor charge of second-degree offering a false instrument for filing in connection with the February 2021 Mount Sinai arrest of Christopher Cruz, of Long Beach, which was captured on body camera video and showed officers striking Cruz. Cameron pleaded not guilty and was released without bail.

"This decision from an experienced judge supports our position that officer Cameron is innocent," said Cameron’s defense attorney William Petrillo. "There is nothing false in the complaint. Matt is both a phenomenal officer and individual."

Following a nine month special grand jury investigation, Cameron was the only officer charged in the aftermath of Cruz's arrest, which included the police department's public release of the body camera footage and announcement that two officers were suspended and four others, including one supervisor, were placed on modified duty. The grand jury presentation remains sealed but Petrillo said he argued to the judge that the evidence proved Cruz resisted arrest and that he was not credible.

"Our own investigation revealed that at least five or six police officers witnessed the resisting," Petrillo said, adding that he believes the body camera footage showed Cruz resisting.

Cameron, who began working for the police department in 2014, remains a police officer, said Petrillo, who declined to answer questions about Cameron's current status and whether he is facing any departmental discipline.

Derek Poppe, a spokesman for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, said Cameron is still suspended without pay.

Cruz’s attorney Frederick K. Brewington said the judge’s citing of the grand jury presentation in dismissing the indictment points to issues with how the DA’s office may have presented the case.

"Something’s wrong here," Brewington said. "I’m really concerned about what this presentation looked like. The real question is – how did the DA present this case and how can there not be an assault charge and charges against the officers who did not intervene and joined into a gang assault?"

Tania Lopez, a spokeswoman for new Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney who inherited the case from his predecessor, Timothy Sini, said: "We are reviewing the court’s decision."

According to the now-dismissed indictment, Cameron's report was "false in its failure to disclose accurately Christopher Cruz’s conduct in … charging Cruz with the crime of resisting arrest."

Cruz, 30, of Long Beach, pleaded guilty to petit larceny last September after acknowledging before Suffolk District Court Judge Richard Dunne that he had entered a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee on Feb. 23, 2021 and drove off without the owner’s permission. Cruz received time served.

In June, the judge dropped second-degree assault, third-degree criminal mischief and resisting arrest charges against Cruz, after prosecutors said they were "not sustainable charges."

Body camera footage of Cruz's arrest showed he was handcuffed when an unnamed officer "twice pushed Cruz's face to the side while Cruz was handcuffed and on the ground," the DA's office said then. The officer subsequently indicated he was moving Cruz's face to "avoid being spitted on."

Another officer then stood Cruz up while holding him by his coat, and Cameron kicked him, prosecutors said. After that, several officers "moved to secure Cruz again," with one officer yelling, "he's fighting again." An officer could also be heard yelling "stop resisting."

Last month, Cruz filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against Cameron and other officers, alleging they unlawfully punched, kicked and pelted him with ethnic slurs.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.