Woodlynne Police Violently Attack Council Member’s Household Over Teen Having Cell Phone Taken

In light of recent events, we were approached a few nights ago by Councilman Cook, who has asked for our help in getting his story out. He has provided us with the currently available bodycam footage, police reports, and a recording of the 911 call that started everything. He and his family feel that it is important that their story be heard, despite how traumatic this has been for them, and so we will honor their request, without any edits to the information that we received.

February 9, 2020 11:09PM EST
Police responded to a 911 call originating from the home of Councilman Clyde Cook and his family. The following is a recording of that phone call:

Officer Acevedo and Detective Feliciano of the Woodlynne Police Department arrived on the scene. Detective Feliciano did not have his body camera turned on at this time (which he acknowledged in his report), so allowed Officer Acevedo to knock on the door. The following is the footage that was obtained from Officer Acevedo’s camera:

And here is a copy of the report filed by Detective Feliciano: (tap to open in a new tab)

Now that you have all of that, let’s take a step back and look at what happened here. Councilman Cook’s daughter placed a 911 call, reporting at least twice that her “dad won’t give [her] stuff back.” Councilman Cook has since indicated that in discharging his parental duties, he took his daughter’s phone in order to deny her access to social media as a disciplinary action. We can see the two officers that responded, and we can see that Councilman Cook, upon opening the door, was initially cooperative, even going so far as to invite Officer Acevedo into his home. Upon seeing Detective Feliciano, he immediately denied entry to him, while simultaneously stating that Officer Acevedo was still allowed to enter, citing the history of problems between him and the detective (as well as his wife, Councilwoman Shana Feliciano). According to the ACLU (https://www.aclu-nj.org/yourrights/what-do-if-youre-stopped-police):

In Your Home

Police and ICE agents must have a warrant to enter your home, except in emergency situations (e.g. a person screaming) or if you let them in. If police or ICE say they have a warrant:

Ask to see it – have them slip the warrant under the door or hold it up to a window
Make sure the information listed is correct
Make sure that a judge has signed it.

When police ask to enter or search your home without a warrant, you may refuse to allow them.

At this point, if you haven’t already watched the body camera footage, please do so. The first few minutes of this is enough to show that there was absolutely no indication of distress at the residence at the time that the officers show up, and the only time that any sounds of distress are heard occur AFTER police forced their way inside. Please also take note of the fact that Detective Feliciano (the one without the camera on) was the first one through the door, blocking the only bodycamera that was actually present. Feliciano’s report indicates that “Ofc. Acevedo entered the kitchen area trying to ascertain why the female was crying or in distress when Mr. Cook became more confrontational and began yelling louder.” The camera footage shows that this was definitely not the case. We can also see from his report the following statement: “He kept repeating that Ofc. Acevedo can come in but I Det. Feliciano can not come in because my wife is a Council member and he has outstanding cases with both. This is a facabrication.” Anyone that’s been paying attention will already be well aware of the bad blood between them, as well as the fact that Councilman Cook’s been in the process of assembling a case against them. Further, we also have this report (filed by Councilman Cook) from October 2019 as well as it’s partner (filed by Shana Feliciano) that clearly show that there’s a problem there. Are these reports fabricated, Detective?

Furthermore, the police report indicates that “Prior to leaving the scene I replaced the BWC battery and activated my BWC.” and as the video shows, Detective Feliciano is NOT wearing his body camera, while simultaneously trying to force his way into the apartment and stating “It doesn’t work that way.” And you know what? He’s right; it doesn’t work that way, but not in the way that he’d have Mr. Cook believe. Without a warrant and without some kind of indication of actual distress, Mr. Cook telling Detective Feliciano to leave should have been, by law, the end of things. And if all that it took was a battery change to get his camera active, then why wasn’t that done? Could it be that they had every intention of violating this family’s rights on this evening, given that they knew the nature of the call, and that this exact same call had been placed five months prior according to the dispatcher?

At this point, the officers forced their way into the home, without a warrant, after being told that one of them was not allowed to enter. As the footage clearly shows that there was no “emergency” condition, as no cries of distress can be heard. Additionally, we know what was said on the 911 call, so we also know this was not a matter of being fearful for the wellbeing of any of the residents. What we see is Detective Feliciano forcing his way into a private residence, and along with Officer Acevedo, proceeding to assault this family, resulting in the arrests of Councilman Cook and his son, Timothy, whose crime in this, by the way, was stepping into the line of fire when he saw an officer pull a weapon on one of his parents.

As if this violation of civil rights wasn’t bad enough, we get to hear Officer Acevedo brag about how “at least I detained one”, as well as the toxic, and frankly disgusting attitudes of some of the other officers present.

And of course it doesn’t stop there. Not only was there the physical mess that their home was left in:

but these charges have already cost Councilman Cook two jobs, and his son’s future in the Marines is threatened. And there is also the added trauma of Ms. Fontanez having her shirt torn from her body during the altercation, but also that of their young daughter, who was also present, and reports indicate that she was also hit by the pepper spray. And then there’s the poor young woman who called the police in the first place, who not only had to witness her family get attacked, but she also caught some of the pepper spray. Just to be perfectly clear here: this entire family was hit with pepper spray.

And officially this was all over a teenage girl having her social media taken away as a disciplinary measure by one of her parents.

46 Comments

  1. i would just like to say ,it looks to me like there was no cooperation at all the police were met with hostility as soon as the door was open and as far as a warrant ,they were called to the resident on a domestic they had to be prepared for anything,im not the one to take sides with the police but the councilman had no right to take the law into his own hands ,if the police were in the wrong and broke the law then he should of filed a complaint not try to fioght off the police in my opinion he sets a bad example for a woodlynne councilman and a parent as the video shows his son even tried to fight off the police ,the video should be called assault on police

    1. When the door first opened, Councilman Cook saw Officer Acevedo and invited him in – see, cooperation. He denied entry to Detective Feliciano, where there is known bad blood. He was well within his rights to deny either of them entry without a warrant, but the police escalated it by forcing their way inside and pepper spraying *the family*. Someone breaking and entering is still breaking and entering, whether they have a badge or not. Without a warrant, and without actual evidence of an emergency being present, the police were wrong to enter, criminally wrong.

    2. Nunya, I didn’t try to fight off anyone. I was using myself as a meat shield between my dad and the police because the cop that triggered everything took his gun out and aimed at my stepmom. If Feliciano wished to cooperate, he would have let his partner into the house, who had already been called to the house and talked to my sister before, and just wait outside. Or call for backup like my father suggested. The officer didn’t even have his body camera on until he had a chance to coerce my sister into helping him justify a reason why he entered the home. There was no screaming, and hostility does not justify entering someone’s home.

      1. We support you TC. I am sorry this happened to your family and that people are trying to justify a clearly unjust situation <3

    3. Can we remove this bologna from this PLEASE. You’re insensitive comment (and probably thought process) need to find somewhere else, like 1965, because now in 2020 is not the time.

    4. Untrue. When cook stated he had a case with feliciano n his wife. He cited a clear conflict of interest..it is not his duty to comply..he did not obstruct because the officers could have requested to speak with yhe caller OITSIDE they provoked him by not following the law which is very clear no entrance with out a wafrent to search.. People do have rights. Officer feliciano was well aware of the home he was going to n shpuld have reported to his siperiors the conflict of interest. Officer acevedo should have backed his partner away and down…. They created a reason to draw a weapon..with lil to no regard to those tjey claim they were to protect..imstead they argue n choose to assert there authority…

      1. The officer should have never been sent to that residence in the first place, conflict of interest. Why was the family sprayed with mace? Its getting way out of control especially when all the officers had to do was to see there was no conflict at the home and leave if they weren’t going to call child protective services, the cops made the issue about the councilman and them. This is egregious and abuse of power on the officers part and pulling a gun? Really?

    5. Well we clearly know whose ass you kiss and wipe. Im sure if this was your family you have done anything to protect them and yourself. From what I see Feliciano was asked to call for someone else to handle the situation. The councilman had every right to do so stating a conflict of interest. There was no distress in the house. Just a bratty teenager who couldn’t have her way. Did I have to escalate like this! No, it didn’t if back up was called as asked. How dare you insult someone’s parenting. It crap like you that make America the way it is. Assault on police my ass. I saw none of that. I saw them barge in his home and mace them. Get ya life!!!!

    6. You are clearly racist and can not hear nor see for that matter its people like yourself that perpetuate and condone this type of blatant force of power and violence that can no longer be tolerated don’t worry your constitutional rights are being stripped away in plain sight we’re in war not only for our sovereignty yours as well you have a false idea of your own freedom in which you have none your carma is set in the cosmos and you may be black, a targeted ,man ,slandered and oppressed in your next incarnation enjoy

    7. Wow. I dont think the police had the right to force their way into his home. Why didnt they ask to speak with the person who made the call.
      The office knew they had personal issues and made it personal. Both should be fired.

    8. When they arrived there was no sign of distress. The girl said “my dad won’t give me back my stuff..” what is there to cooperate about? He said the one officer can come in to do a well check but the other can’t because of personal conflict. That alone is his civil right!!! It’s his home, his property!!!! It kills me when people say you HAVE to cooperate with police. Police officer are people who took an oath to protect and serve. Protect from HARM AND SERVE AS A PILLAR IN THE COMMUNITY!!! Knocking on a door late at night rushing yourself into a home of a councilman in the city and attacking his family is NOT acts of an officer..RESPECT IS A MINIMUM and it’s being categorized as an award. Sooner or later RESPECT WILL BE DEMANDED… Change your way of thinking because we have.
      WE ARE NOT OUR ANCESTORS!!! Remember that ✊

    9. You must be white and have never had your rights violated. He allowed one policeman to come into HIS house. He knows his rights unlike you, or maybe you believe rights don’t apply if you’re black On the 911 call can’t hear any signs of distress or even understand what she’s saying. They shouldn’t even been out on a domestic, just a check up. This cop knew whose house it was and had a personal vendetta. Why else would he have his body cam off when all he had to do was change the damn battery? And if they care so much about any potential victim, why’d they pepper spray every member of the family? I hope you never have to deal with being brutalized for civilly disciplining your child. This girl wasn’t in danger she got her phone taken away. Take your racist bias elsewhere cause you look and sound dumb af.

    10. Wow amazing how different per epitomizing or interpretation can be. The call said my father won’t give me my stuff!! Why is that any more than a knock on the door and is everything alright? Can I speak to the young lady who called?? They didn’t need to go in. And further as soon as the gentlemen said you can come in and they didn’t have a search warrant they should of left and finally they could if called for a different officer to accompany the officer who was allowed in. He didn’t have to let either of them in he was agreeable to one of them.

    11. They had no warrant and there was no obvious indications of violence or distress. Under these circumstances they must have a warrant to enter a private home. One officer was given access, the other wasn’t and should have stayed outside. As Americans we still have right and the law must be followed, even by police officers. In fact, considering the complaint, they should not have gone out and investigated a parent discipling a child. If any intervention was warranted it should have been done by child protective services, not the police.

  2. Untrue. When cook stated he had a case with feliciano n his wife. He cited a clear conflict of interest..it is not his duty to comply..he did not obstruct because the officers could have requested to speak with yhe caller OITSIDE they provoked him by not following the law which is very clear no entrance with out a wafrent to search.. People do have rights. Officer feliciano was well aware of the home he was going to n shpuld have reported to his siperiors the conflict of interest. Officer acevedo should have backed his partner away and down…. They created a reason to draw a weapon..with lil to no regard to those tjey claim they were to protect..imstead they argue n choose to assert there authority…

  3. Its a shame woodlynne used to be a great town great job boys in blue keep up the good work i know its hard with the shit show its become…

    1. You’re a racist ass to think that they are actually doing a great job. The key word is use to be a great town. Not so much now.. smh.

    2. Detective Feliciano through his wife’s political clashes with Councilman Cook knew the situation he was entering. Why didn’t he have a camera? This is small town politics where the Detective knew who he was facing and decided he entered into the domcile after numerous warnings.
      It appears Detective Feliciano failed in his training. His presence escalated the situation and Detective Feliciano failed to descalate the sitatuation as well as being negligent in not having a body cam.
      His failure to properly document the event, is negligent and he should be forced to retrained for escalating this situation, a minor disturbance as well as a parental disciplinary issue.

      This is another example where the police figured a sledgehammer would be used instead of simply talking the situation.
      I am surprised there hasn’t been an effort made by the the Woodlyne Internal Affairs or the county prosecutor has not investigated this case. (Hopefully the Camden County Prosecutor’s office is going to investigate this case. I would hope they just don’t default this as “simply politics”)

      1. I have personally reached out to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office. They are actively investigating. Detective Feliciano needs more than retraining, though. He needs to be charged, and charged hard enough that he’s never allowed to hold a gun again.

  4. Why is the first thing out of one of the cops ‍♂️ mouth. You hear is : is your camera on. With that being said we know you have a camera but refused to turn it on for evidence. Do you job, to the best of your abilities . The camera is used to protect you or as we say used for evidence if your doing something wrong. It can go both ways….

  5. Some of you are very ignorant and feliciano is always doing something wrong sooner or later woodlynne will see it no one likes him he’s racist and let’s the power of that badge go to his head me and my sister almost had an incident with him last year he’s an asshole and his karma is coming fucking racist bastard @tc I’m praying that you’re family wins this case and hope everything is well

  6. My observation about this situation the officer is supposed to be the one following the law instead he acted like a little girl with head and finger movement, he was told several times your not allowed in the house, the same thing happened to me. In this town these officers do what they want!, they are liars and not to be trusted! It’s so sad its come to this these officers cover one another and us the community have to be scared! Because it’s our word against them! All lives matter Damit!

  7. Wow Susan you are so correct ALL lives matter

    I pray for the day when we are included with the ALL

    When will it be published..curious

    1. Sorry it took so long for your comments to appear. Due to the insane number of bots that try to pollute the comments on my posts, I have comments set to be approved. So long as you’re not a bot, it will get through, but as this is not my full-time job, I am only able to check it several times a day.

  8. Hello. I am appalled at the recent behavior of Woodlynne Police Officers. Does anyone have email address(es) where I can send letters to your Council Members, Mayor, and/or Public Safety Director? Please and Thank you.

    1. You may be able to find that information on the official Woodlynne Borough website: http://www.woodlynnenj.org , but you would be wasting your time and energy talking to them. They’re all part of the problem, save one. Your time would be better spent reaching out to the people that *they* answer to and insist that they be held accountable.

      Edited to add:
      And obviously it would have made sense for me to tell you who they answer to, wouldn’t it? The Public Safety Director answers to Mayor and Council. Councilwoman Gwen Torres (who has finally decided to start showing up to meetings again, and who hasn’t actually lived in Woodlynne since March and thus violating the residency requirement of her seat) is the head of the Public Safety Committee. They answer to a few different places, depending on what thing they’re doing wrong that time. Among those are the State Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and the local legislature: Senator Cruz-Perez, Assemblyman Moen, and Assemblyman Spearman (whom you can reach at https://www.njleg.state.nj.us )

  9. 911 call came in & by law had to be investigated including ensuring all occupants inside the house are unharmed. Police must enter the dwelling to visibly verify all occupants are free from harm. The Councilman was not following instructions and became hostile. I don’t see the police doing anything unlawful here.

    1. What’s unlawful is that by law, if a resident of a home denies them entry, unless they have a warrant (which they did not have), or there is actual evidence of someone in distress (crying, shouting, etc, which we also know wasn’t present, on account of the body camera footage). It’s likely for that reason that Detective Feliciano coaxed specific responses from the young woman that placed that call. Police report indicates that he spoke to her. We have been told by the family that he kept pressing the question “You were crying when we got here, right?” until he got the answer that he wanted from her.
      Furthermore, the family has told me that the Detective pulled his firearm when he entered the home, which is when Timothy stepped in the way. I did not include that in the main article because the footage doesn’t show that (and of course it doesn’t, since Detective Feliciano was playing games with his camera). He “replaced” his battery immediately *after* he left home following the attack on the family. Additionally, there is an existing history of problems between their two families. Detective Feliciano was well aware of whose home he was entering without an active camera, warrant, or actual evidence of a problem. If you listened to the beginning of the tape, you can hear the dispatcher tell the officers that this is the second time that she had called in about this (SO THEY SHOULD ALREADY HAVE BEEN AWARE OF WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS), and if you listened to the 911 call, she clearly states, twice, “my dad won’t give me my stuff back”. No sounds of distress on the call.
      By law, when Councilman Cook told Feliciano to call for another officer, HE HAD TO! He clearly had no problem with Officer Acevedo entering the home, and even invited him in, until Detective Feliciano *ESCALATED* the situation by forcing his way in.

      1. Clearly I heard the same 911 call as the rest of you and I heard sounds of obvious distress in the household. Having prior issues with the police, sounds like youre an embarrassment to the Marine Corps that’s why they dont want you! What a bratty little kid and supposedly this is the second time she called 911 unbelievable.

        1. Sounds like you’re a complete idiot. How would he be an embarrassment to the marine corps? You would be proud of him serving and fighting for your country (which by the way, you live in) but he’s an embarrassment for defending his father. How does that sound? Really stupid.

        1. What part of a teenage girl calmly stating on the phone “My dad won’t give my stuff back” sounds like actual distress? There was no crying, no screaming, nothing to indicate *any* level of emergency, much less one that would provide sufficient reason for an officer to force his way into the home of a family in which there is a clear conflict of interest without a warrant.

        2. No there wasn’t. If you want to talk about embarrassment look in the White House, there’s you reason for this bs…he’ fanning the flames of racism.

    2. Agree with you 100%. It’s easy to disagree when you don’t have all the facts or have no background in the officers or Cook. Fortunately, I know Cook and all his frustrations in politics. He’s out to get who ever he can and that’s what’s unfortunate here. Glad that the child was well…which I believe was all a stunt. It’s what he’s known for.

  10. The residents were within their own rights to deny the Officers entrance to their home period! Everything that happened afther wards was a violation on behalf of the Officers! Period!

  11. An obvious case of officer overreach perpetrated by a police officer with a GOD complex. Forced entry into anyone’s home is grounds for defending yourself all over America.

    This unnecessary escalation was in my opinion, due to police officer illegal behavior.

  12. Wow amazing how different perspectives or interpretation can be. The call said my father won’t give me my stuff!! Why is that warrant any more than a knock on the door and “is everything alright”? Can I speak to the young lady who called?? They didn’t need to go in. And further as soon as the gentlemen said you can come in and they didn’t have a search warrant they should of left and finally they could if called for a different officer to accompany the officer who was allowed in. He didn’t have to let either of them in he was agreeable to one of them.

  13. This is a very interesting take on the facts visible in this case along with my experiences and knowledge of Mr.Cook. I have been a resident of this town for over 24 years. I am a minority and have worked closely with members of this entire community as well as an employee of the Woodlynne School District. First and foremost as a parent, a child calling in distress is a call for entry to ensure that the child is well. If there was no distress and her call was unfounded then there should have been no issue with allowing officers to enter. Secondly, Mr. Cook has provoked many officials and citizens in our town since his arrival, as a TENANT. He enjoys creating issues…I would not put past him that this call was premeditated to ensue an issue with the police force. And further fascinating is that he chooses to share this info just now during our current protests for equal rights, BLM. This man DOES NOT UPHOLD THE LAW AND FURTHERMORE BELIEVES THAT HE IS ABOVE IT. Perhaps your site should investigate Cook as there will be plenty for you to find, he’s a fake and an opportunist. I would love for him to have the courage to express these said concerns to me directly. And believe me he will know based on this post, who I am. Let’s see what he has to respond to my post. Stop the nonsense Cook you are no politician, you’re a fraud.

  14. Acevedo and Feliciano are thugs, plain and simple.
    Why would you embarrass a man in front of his family like that by roughing him up and pepper spraying them and arresting him?
    I’m kind of mad at the brat who called the cops in the first place. How is she feeling now?
    I hope the council man is suing.

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