A woman who says she was racially profiled by New Jersey cops in a traffic stop nearly three years ago is revving up her legal challenge against the city.
Tyesha Brockington claims that North Brunswick cops targeted her after she picked up a male friend at a motel News 4 later learned was identified by cops as a drug location.
"He started following me and he didn't have a reason to do what he did," she said.
Brockington decided to speak after previous I-Team reports on other minority drivers who also said they were racially profiled, and given traffic tickets. Those accusations have been confirmed by several whistleblower officers.
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"It goes right back into the narrative of what I've been reporting, the racial profiling. It's just unfortunate it's happening again," Mike Campbell, a retired officer for the department, said.
The allegations are all denied by the township. In Brockington's case, an open records request for police bodycam video revealed she was tailed for several minutes before being pulled over.
"I pulled you over because you cut through private property," the stopping officer can be heard telling Brockington.
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An officer tells the woman she had driven through a shopping mall to avoid a stoplight. She retraced her route with News 4, showing that diversion would have actually added several minutes to her ride instead of saving her time. She also provided a text message that showed she had stopped in the mall to give a friend some money.
"You didn't pull me over for that, you was following me," she said to the officer at the time.
The officer responded, "You're absolutely right. I'm not here to argue with you."
It became clear the cops were actually interested in Brockington's male passenger.
"Why does he need to talk to someone in my car for? If you giving me a ticket, give me a ticket," she said.
With her not backing down, officers gave Brockington a ticket for $81.
"My insurance premium went up. I hadn't even been found guilty" she said.
Brockington went full throttle through delays that included COVID and scheduling issues, determined to fight the ticket. Finally, in June, the ticket was dismissed but she has continued her quest to prove she was racially profiled.
Brockington decided to file a civil lawsuit demanding all of the evidence in the traffic stop. She says she ran into new roadblocks. The township attorney has turned over nothing she requested, and he did not respond to repeated messages from the I-Team. But in court papers, the township denied her allegations.
"I'm asking for all video footage with the date and time stamped, unmodified, all inquires that were run on myself, my vehicle and my male passenger," she said.
A judge ordered mediation, but Brockington argues in court papers she can’t defend herself without all of the evidence.
"I felt like I was interrogated, harassed, intimidated and profiled. I want to know why, why did this happen to me," she said.
