Crash Reports
Charlie Kratovil made this OPRA request to Piscataway Township Police Department This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Piscataway Township Police Department,
Under OPRA and the common law right of access, please provide a copy of each of the following motor vehicle accident reports:
1) the hit-and run crash at New Brunswick and Cedarwood where Tiffany Pham was struck (8/21/17)
2) the fatal crash on River Road that killed Steve Kemmlein (10/14/17)
3) the fatal crash on Stelton Road that killed at Tahir Jamile (5/8/18)
Yours faithfully,
Charlie Kratovil
Good morning,
This office is in receipt of your OPRA request for fatal accident reports, the following is our response to such.
1. Tiffany Pham-17-40577 attached for review
2. Steve Kemmlein-17-50586, this mva does not exsit due to the fact that Piscataway Township
Police Department suffered a detrimental occurrence (see attached letter explaning such).
The incident report falls under criminal investigatory therefore is not releasable.
3. Tahir Jamile-18036673,this mva says to see see fatal investigation report, under criminal investigatory
the incident report can not be released.
Sincerely,
Sandra Wiley
Office Manager
Central Records Section
732-562-2378- Direct
732-529-2510 - Facsimile
Dear Ms. Wiley,
When you say that the fatal incident that killed Steve Kemmlein "does not exist" what does that mean? Are you saying that all police records of this killing are missing from Piscataway PD's files?
When you say PPD "suffered a detrimental occurrence" what does that mean? Are you referring to PPD being the victim of a ransomware attack on May 18, 2018? The letter you attached claims that you are "unable to fulfill requests" for crash reports from specific period of time. Yet you provided two reports from this period. Does this mean that PPD was able to retrieve some of the compromised records and not others?
What is the cost of the ransom and has it been paid? Is there a timeframe for when PPD expects that it may be able to retrieve the records of the killing of Mr. Kemmlein?
Additionally, the report for case #18036673 states: "Please see fatal investigation under this case number."
All crash investigation reports must be released, including in situations like this where the NJ-TR1 report says to see another report for the "crash description/narrative." Please provide a copy of the referenced investigation under that case number. Thank you kindly.
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear Sir,
In regards to your follow up questions, the mva report for Mr. Kemmlein is one of many reports that was able to be retrieved.
The PPD did suffer a ransonware attack, and to my knowledge a small percentage records where able to be retrieved and others not.
To my knowledge there was no ransome paid. At this point and time the PPD does not expect to have any of the missing mva's retrieved.
As I stated in my previous response, case #18036673 incident report is a criminal investigatory report, and therefore can not be released.
Sincerely,
Sandra Wiley
Office Manager
Central Records Section
732-562-2378- Direct
732-529-2510 - Facsimile
Dear Ms. Wiley,
You stated that "the mva report for Mr. Kemmlein is one of many reports that was able to be retrieved."
Did you mean to say that it was *not* able to be retrieved?
I must re-iterate my request for the case #18036673 incident report - it is a crash investigation, is it not?
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear Ms. Wiley,
In a separate communication, the Township Attorney has informed me that your previous statement was "inaccurate and unauthorized." I am very confused and need some clarification on what exactly is preventing you from producing the records that I requested. For example, how much is the requested ransom? If I pay the ransom can I obtain the requested record regarding the crash that killed Mr. Kemmlein?
In his email, the Township Attorney has made reference to the PPD "re-creating" police reports that were lost in the ransomware attack. What can you tell me about that process? What level must an incident rise to in order to warrant re-creation of the inaccessible records, and how does PPD ensure that the re-created records match the original records that were lost to the hackers?
Additionally, the supplemental report for case #18036673 requested must be produced. Do you have it? Or is it also inaccessible due to the ransomware attack?
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Kratovil