Jersey City Cop 'Highly Intoxicated' In Traffic Stop, But Not Charged; Why Not?

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
NJ.com
May. 21, 2015

JERSEY CITY – A Jersey City police sergeant was accused of driving "highly intoxicated" in Robbinsville in January 2014, but was released without charges into the custody of Jersey City police and remains on the job.

The incident is documented in a dramatic video and multiple police reports obtained via a public-records request. The video, taken from the dashboard of one a Robbinsville police officer, shows one officer telling Sgt. Vincent Corso, the Jersey City cop, that he is too "f***** up" to drive, while just off camera there is an apparent struggle after the officers tell Corso they plan to confiscate his gun.

News of the traffic stop first surfaced two weeks ago when Robert Cowan, the former Jersey City police chief, cited the incident in a civil lawsuit he filed against the city, Mayor Steve Fulop and Public Safety Director James Shea.

Cowan alleges in his lawsuit that he ordered an internal affairs investigation into Corso's traffic stop over the objections of Fulop and Shea. The ex-police chief, whose allegations have been dubbed fiction by city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill, says Fulop tried to conceal the incident involving Corso, a local union official, because he wanted to curry favor with the union in advance of a possible gubernatorial run in 2017.

Corso, 47, the first vice president of the Jersey City Police Superior Officers Association and a 22-year veteran of the police force, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Hudson County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Gene Rubino said his office did not investigate the matter, while Mercer County's prosecutor opted not to bring charges against the Robbinsville cops.

Jersey City public-safety spokeswoman Carly Baldwin said she couldn't respond to questions about Corso because the traffic stop is "tied to ongoing litigation." Baldwin confirmed that Corso remains an active police officer in Jersey City.