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Body camera footage shows missing NJ man in police custody
FOX 5 NY has obtained police body camera footage showing Felix de Jesus, 41, in handcuffs in the back of a police car in Paterson. De Jesus has been missing since February.
NEW JERSEY - Video obtained by FOX 5 NY shows missing 41-year-old Felix De Jesus interacting with police just before his disappearance.
The two pieces of body camera video that were made public are from February 3, 2022. They show De Jesus asking officers "Why are you arresting me?" as he is taken into custody.
De Jesus' family says he had initially disappeared the day before and says that police in Paterson, New Jersey initially denied interacting with him.
The family then took matters into their own hands, putting pressure on officials, protesting, and looking for clues. They say they figured out that De Jesus was intoxicated the evening of February 2 and went to a convenience store not far from where he lives in the neighboring borough of Haledon.
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The video begins in the store and shows officers struggling to get De Jesus inside the police car.
In the video, De Jesus is mostly speaking Spanish, telling officers his hand is broken and in sections of the video addressing them with profanities.
What the video does not show, however, is where he and the officers ended up.
"I am concerned we did not get the full scope of body cam video," said the attorney for De Jesus's family.
Haledon police are currently handling the missing person investigation.
"After being conveyed by the Paterson Police Department from the area Marion Street and Union Avenue to the intersection of Preakness Avenue and Front Street, Mr. Felix Joel DeJesus was last seen by five (5) civilian witnesses congregating in the area of Westside Park, behind John F. Kennedy High School, in the City of Paterson on February 2, 2022, at approximately 9:00 p.m." the Haledon Police Department said in a statement. "The whereabouts of Mr. De Jesus thereafter, remain under active investigation."
However, the date on the body camera video doesn't match the date of De Jesus' disappearance.
FOX 5 NY received no comment from the Paterson Police Department or the city and was directed to the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office, which is handling the current investigation.
"The existence, target, nature and progress of Internal Affairs investigations are confidential and neither the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office nor the Paterson Police Department will provide any comment regarding the existence, substance, or findings of any such investigation.," the Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.