New Jersey Man who Called 911 from Roadblock Settles Suit

A northern New Jersey town has agreed to pay $25,000 to a man who was arrested after he called 911 from a police roadblock to ask the operator if they “lived in a Nazi state.”

William Duncan Jr. was driving to a hospital to visit a relative in 2002 when he was stopped by Mount Olive Township police. Officers were looking through car windows for contraband.

Frustrated by the delay, Duncan called 911. Police charged him with calling 911 for nonemergency purposes. He spent two days in jail, but his conviction was overturned by an appeals court.

Duncan sued. In court papers, he said the police department harassed him and his family.

Mayor David Scapicchio says the township’s insurance company recommended the settlement.