Ex-officer who struck handcuffed suspect gets probation

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – A former New Jersey police officer who admitted striking a handcuffed suspect who was detained in a patrol car and then tried to cover it up has been sentenced to six months of probation.

Todd Ritter had pleaded guilty in May to simple assault. The 54-year-old Millstone resident also agreed to forfeit his job with the Piscataway police, where he had served for 22 years.

Prosecutors say Ritter was on duty when he struck a suspect in his patrol car with a closed fist and falsified a police report in which he claimed the suspect hit him in the groin. They say that was done in an attempt to conceal his actions.

Ritter had been suspended without pay after he was charged in the matter.