The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) has identified Omar Williams, 43, of Hamilton, Mercer County, as the civilian who died following an encounter with Bloomfield Police Department officers on July 23, 2024, in East Orange.
According to a preliminary investigation, Bloomfield police detectives received an Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) alert regarding a vehicle connected to a pending robbery case. Deputy Chief Anthony Sisco located the vehicle in Newark. Officers attempted to stop the car, but when the driver did not comply, Sgt. Raymond Diaz, Lt. Michael Moleski, and Detective James Romano pursued it into Bloomfield and then East Orange. The pursuit ended when the vehicle crashed into another civilian car and subsequently struck two additional vehicles, including a parked ambulance.
Omar Williams died from injuries sustained in the crash. Other civilians involved suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The police vehicles were not directly involved in any of the collisions.
Footage from dashboard cameras, body-worn cameras, and third-party cameras related to the incident has been released by OPIA under policies established by the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 aimed at ensuring fair and transparent investigations of fatal police encounters. Representatives of Mr. Williams’ family reviewed these recordings before they were made public.
The investigation remains ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.
Under state law N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2), any death occurring during an encounter with law enforcement or while a person is in custody must be investigated by the Attorney General’s Office and presented to a grand jury for possible indictment consideration against involved officers.
More details about how fatal police encounters are investigated under New Jersey’s Independent Prosecutor Directive can be found on the Attorney General’s website.
