Lawsuit alleges missing body camera footage after ambulance assault claim

A lawsuit filed May 5, 2026, alleges Rutherford, N.J., police officers deleted more than nine minutes of body-worn camera footage to conceal an assault on a restrained man in an ambulance. Brian Caughey, 46, was handcuffed and strapped into an ambulance on June 9, 2024, after an arrest on a harassment charge. The suit claims an officer struck him in the head and face, causing a laceration requiring stitches. The missing footage would have shown the alleged assault; the suit says the video was edited to obscure evidence of force.