Dear Cape May City,

Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-6(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.

I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.

I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.

I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.

Records requested:
Dear Records Custodian,

Under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.), I request body-worn camera (BWC) recordings only related to the Cape May Police Department response to the Toyota Highlander/SUV found in the ocean just off Beach Avenue, Cape May, New Jersey, associated in reporting and prosecutor statements with Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead.
montgomerycountypa.gov
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Incident details (to help locate the records)

Location: “just off Beach Avenue, Cape May, NJ” (vehicle in the surf/ocean)
montgomerycountypa.gov

Date/Time: On or about April 11, 2023 (overnight/early morning timeframe; exact time unknown).
montgomerycountypa.gov
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Event type: Vehicle driven into the ocean/surf; Cape May Police located the vehicle.
montgomerycountypa.gov

Records requested (please produce up to five clear, non-duplicative items)

Please produce up to five clear, non-duplicative BWC recordings (or the relevant clips/segments from those recordings) showing:

Officers’ initial arrival and approach to the vehicle in the surf/ocean off Beach Avenue;

Initial scene security and assessment, including any attempts to determine whether anyone was inside/near the vehicle (as captured on BWC);

Any search/locating efforts immediately tied to the driver/occupant in the immediate area (limited to the same on-scene event captured on BWC);

Any on-scene officer-to-officer communications on BWC necessary to understand the response and immediate actions taken (limited to what is captured on BWC);

Conclusion of the on-scene event (e.g., transition from initial response to handoff/clearing the scene), as captured on BWC.

Strict limits / exclusions (to keep this narrow)

This request is strictly limited to the single on-scene Cape May Police response to the vehicle in the ocean off Beach Avenue. I am not seeking:

Any Pennsylvania homicide investigation materials;

Any later interviews/interrogations at a station, prosecutor’s office, jail, or court;

Any hospital/medical footage;

Any third-party surveillance/doorbell video;

Any unrelated calls for service.

Note: I understand reporting/prosecutor statements indicate the individual was later taken into custody by Wildwood Crest Police after walking there. If Cape May Police did not take the person into custody, I am still requesting Cape May Police BWC of the Beach Avenue vehicle-in-ocean response and any BWC copies from other agencies that are in Cape May Police possession for this same incident.
montgomerycountypa.gov
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Format / delivery

Format: Original/native electronic video files (or native exported clips) via download link/portal with any available metadata/timecodes.

Redactions: Only those required by law; please release all reasonably segregable portions.

Fees / special service charge

This is a narrow, non-commercial, public-interest request for a small number of specific BWC clips via electronic delivery. It should not require an “extraordinary expenditure of time and effort” under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(c), so no special service charge should apply. If you believe any fee or special service charge is necessary, please provide a written estimate and do not proceed without my written approval.

If any portion is denied or withheld, please provide the specific legal basis for each withholding/redaction and identify the withheld record(s) by date/time range and officer/camera identifier where available.

Please confirm receipt and advise if any additional detail is needed to locate these records.

My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. Please confirm you have received this request. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.

Yours faithfully,

William Bughundy