Did Wayne cops do enough to defuse altercation? Negligence claimed in '21 killing
WAYNE — The sister of a man found strangled to death in his apartment has sued the township, claiming the police officer who responded to the scene missed warning signs that would have prevented the tragedy.
The case is the second civil lawsuit brought to state Superior Court in Paterson by Donna Majuri, the executor of the estate of Frank Majuri, 60, whose death on Nov. 6, 2021, was ruled a homicide.
His roommate at the time, Frank Rance, now 40, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He remains in Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, awaiting trial.
The Majuri estate filed an initial suit less than three weeks after the incident against SERV Behavioral Health System Inc.
The Ewing-based nonprofit was allegedly responsible for monitoring the behavior of adult clients with mental illnesses.
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The organization assigned Rance to live with Majuri three months before he was killed, and according to the suit, its agents should have been aware of his “dangerous propensities.”
The roommates lived in a garden apartment building at 21 Hinchman Ave., part of Valley Terrace Condominiums.
In the second suit, the Majuri estate said that Patrolman William Hall was dispatched there to break up a dispute over a Social Security check.
The suit says Hall should have known Rance was “contemplating violence” toward Majuri and that police knew that they received mental health treatment.
Police had responded to the apartment on previous occasions, the suit says, and Rance exhibited “irrational paranoia.” In at least one instance, the lawsuit says his on-call counselor was contacted.
The six-count suit, which alleges negligence and wrongful death, seeks compensatory damages.
Township Attorney Matthew Giacobbe did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Hall arrived at the apartment at 10:41 p.m., the suit says.
Rance complained to the officer that Majuri stole his check out of their mailbox, before ripping it up and throwing the pieces in the trash, the suit says.
Majuri denied ever taking it, and the suit says that the officer advised Rance to contact the Social Security Administration to receive a new check.
“What if he steals it again?” Rance said to the officer, the suit says. “He’s the only person that has a key to the mailbox. They would have told me if I was cut off from Social Security.”
The officer told Rance to “call us again” to “go further with it” if he suspected his roommate of stealing another check, the suit says. “Unfortunately,” he then said, “I can’t go through the garbage to see if there’s a check in there.”
Hall left the apartment at 10:48 p.m., and the suit says that less than an hour later, at 11:40 p.m., he was dispatched there on a report of a “male party not breathing.”
Rance met the officer outside of the apartment and told him that he and Majuri were in an argument, the suit says.
Majuri was found unresponsive inside of their unit, and the suit says that he was pronounced dead just after midnight.
Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: devencentis@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Wayne NJ police department sued for negligence in slaying case
