Opra Request for incident taking place on 10/20/2025
Dear Mount Olive Township,
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: William H. Schmieding, 70, of White House Station, was arrested on Monday 10/20/2025 for accidentally shooting an 89-year-old woman in the leg with a handgun in a Flanders pizza parlor, police said.
Schmieding was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault, prohibited carrying of a firearm, and violating safe firearm carry requirements.
Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., I respectfully request access to and copies of the following records:
1.) All body cam and dash cam footage from all officers involved. 2.)Incident Report 3.)All surveillance and/or third party camera footage.
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,
Ghettomerica
Received.
Susan Gouveia
Susan Gouveia, Township Clerk
Township of Mount Olive
(973) 691-0900, ext. 7291
Good afternoon,
Please see the below denials provided by the Police Department pertaining
to your OPRA request.
The body worn camera footage for this OPRA has been denied for the
following reason:
"Access to body worn camera footage is denied as the investigation into
this matter is open and ongoing. The New Jersey Supreme Court has
concluded that early disclosure of records containing details of the
incident “will often be “inimical to the public interest””, and thus,
would be an impediment to the state’s constitutional obligation to
investigate and prosecute responsible parties for their alleged criminal
conduct. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-3. North Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Twp. Of
Lyndhurst, 229 N.J. 541, 574 (citing N.J.S.A. 47:1A-3)."
The incident report is denied as Criminal Investigatory Records:
N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 (criminal investigatory records). See N. Jersey Media
Grp., Inc. v. Twp. of Lyndhurst, 229 N.J. 541, 569 (2017) (concluding that
"dash-cam recordings" and "detailed investigative reports and witness
statements" that "pertain[] to an investigation into actual or potential
violations of criminal law . . . fall within
the criminal investigatory records exception."); Janeczko v. NJ Department
of Law and Public Safety, Division of Criminal Justice, GRC Complaint Nos.
2002-79 and 2002-80 (June 2004) ("[C]riminal investigatory records include
records involving all manner of crimes, resolved or unresolved, and
include information that is part and parcel of an investigation, confirmed
and unconfirmed."), aff'd Janeczko v. Division of Criminal Justice, Docket
No. A-309-03T1 (App. Div. May 26, 2004). Criminal investigatory records
remain exempt even after an investigation is closed and regardless of
whether criminal charges resulted. Grossman v. Office of the Cnty., 2013
WL 4045813, at *8 (N.J.Super.L. Jul. 26, 2013).
Thank you,
Erin Meixsell
Assistant to the Township Clerk
Mount Olive Township
204 Flanders-Drakestown Road
Budd Lake, NJ 07828
973-691-0900 ext. 7290
[1]New Mt Olive Seal small
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