The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-06-13
NUCENT SCORED
Hoboken Lawyer Call Cap
tain a Rum Soaked
Police Official.
A PECULIAR ARREST
Two Respectable Men Locked
Up Because They Were
Suspected.
PECULIAR ARREST

In an impassioned address to jury in
the Hoboken District Court, yesterday
afternoon, Captain Thomas Nugent. of the
Fifth precinct, this city, was character
lied by a lawyer as ''rum-soaked police
Official The address, which created
small sensation in the court room, came
as an unlocked for incident in a damage
quit in which Captain Nugent appeared
as defendant.
The suit was the outcome of an arrest
made by the Captain, which attracted
considerable attention in Jersey City at
the time because of the stand taken by
Police Justice ]. H. Potts in the matter.
]. w. Hartung and r. s. Martin, partners
in horticultural, firm, of No. 1908 Han
cock avenue, Brooklyn, came to this city
on March 19 last to visit some customers.
The men claimed in addition to this that
they had drawn on their account in the
Bowery Bank the same day $50. This
sum was in six five dollar gold pieces and
was carried by Hartung. The gold pieces
were not to his liking and he made several
attempts to have them changed into bills.
Among other places the men entered
the saloon of J. Kaiser, at the corner of
Ocean avenue and Communipaw avenue.
August Koch, the bartender refused to
give bills for the gold pieces He re-
ferred the men to the proprietor, who
| likewise refused to make the requested
change. The partners then left the
saloon.
| Hartung was standing talking to
| woman who claimed to be one of his
customers when Captain Nugent came
along and placed him under arrest. The
alleged customer, a Mrs. Schellin, of No.
| IS PearsaI avenue, offered to vouch for
him, but the Captain, she testified on the
witness stand refused to listen to her.
Martin, the other partner who was talk
| ing with another of the firms customers,
a Mrs. Vizenne, was placed under arrest
| by a partolman who said he was acting
under his superior's orders.
1--WE exhibited our business cards and
| bank books to the captain, but he refused
to listen to u.s. testified Martin He
| said he thought we were film Hammers.
On our way to the police station we in
duced him to step into Lembeck's and
/ have the money in our possession exam
/ ined. One of the clerks put the gold
| pieces through rigid tests, even going so
far as to try them with acid. He told the
| captain that the money was good, but
| that did not satisfy Nugent. He acted
very queerly. When we reached the sta
| tion, however, we told him to ring up the
Bowery Bank. This was done, and he
certainly must have been told that we
had an account there and that payment
| had been made that day in gold. We spent
| the night in cells, but had the satisfac-
I tion of being released when arraigned be-
! fore Justice Potts in the morning. He in
| timated that the arrest was in no way
| justifable.
| Counsellor John I. Weller, senior mem
ber of the firm of Weller & Lichenstein,
| counsel for the plaintiffs, was not present
| in the early part of the hearing. When
4 he arrived he assumed charge of the
| partners case and tried to make out that
| Captain Nugent was drunk when he made
| the arrest. He got the bartender, KOCH
| to admit that the Captain was in the
saloon several times and drank lager each
/ time Corporation Attorney ]. w. Queen,
who appeared for the Captain, objected
to many of the Hoboken lawyers ques-
tions to this witness and they were
stricken out of the testimony by order of
Judge Abel 1. Smith.
| In summing up Counsellor Weller asked
| the Jury to return two separate verdicts.
Each partner wanted $500 damages and
desired individual Judgment on their
cases. Both had been outrageously abused
by their arrest, he said, and their joint
business interests had been injured in
consequence. He then became very ex-
cited.
'Mr Hartung, gentlemen, have known
| since a boy." he declared, 'sand the pre-
l 4I,of la TnIrId crf1 a
illegitimate practice is preposterous. No
! body with a sane mind could sanction
/ the arrest which has resulted in this suit
! after the evidence produced at this hear
| ing. If you will permit incidents of this
kind to occur unpunished no respectable
business man can be safe in a strange
/ city where he applies for change. In all
| nv legal experience I never heard of such
! gross abuse of official power. If public
servants are permitted to do as they like
when under the influence of liquor it is
| high time, l say, that a protest is regis
| tered.
zone of my clients, I repeat, have
/ known since a boy. l know the grave
| yard where his parents are buried and
i can see the picture of them at the judg-
| ment seat where the rum soaked soul OF
| this police officer who mas so unJuSliy
! treated their boy will one day have to
stand His conduct in this matter has
4 been sinful one and no one knows 1t bet
| ter than himself"
Lawyer Queen maintained that Cap
| tain Nugent was only fulfilling the duty
| of police officer in ordering the arrest of
| the men. He acted purely within his au-
| thority, the lawyer said. The conduct Of
| the men had been suspicious and the
captain had in no way proven himself in
discreet. There was no evidence to prove
| that he was drunk and such being the
case fault of no kind could be found with
| him.
Judge Smith in charging the jury, SAID
4 the point to be determined was whether
| the captain really had reason to regard
| the men with suspicion. If he had the ar
rest was justifiable, but II he had not they
4 were entitled to liberal damages
The jury was out for half an hour.
when It returned the foreman announced
4 that the claim of neither Of the plaintiffs
4 was considered warranted and that in
j both cases verdicts in the Captains favor
had been agreed upon.
MA3TERs OF FACE