Trooper Allegedly Tried to Get a Date, Got Arrested Instead

A New Jersey state trooper is accused of repeatedly pulling over women in order to pressure them into a date. Sound familiar? That's because another NJ state trooper was accused last year of doing the very same thing, though in a different part of the state. In this case, authorities say 31-year-old Eric Richardson of Camden repeatedly "harassed" two women "about initiating a personal relationship" beginning in August 2016, per NJ.com. Though both women had unregistered vehicles, and one had a warrant out for her arrest, Richardson apparently tried to woo them by saying he'd let them off for the car infractions; in the case of the woman with the warrant, he allegedly said she needed to give him her phone number or he'd arrest her. He then began communicating with the women via text messages and through social media, but he continued the traffic stops until January of this year, police say.

Not long after, an internal investigation found evidence that Richardson had been covering up the stops, police say. For example, Richardson told dispatchers that he'd pulled over a man on Dec. 23 when he had actually pulled over one of the two women, officials say. He again lied on Jan. 3, claiming he'd stopped to help a motorist when he'd stopped one of the women "to ask if she had the same phone number," authorities say. Police say Richardson also turned off his dashboard camera during some of the stops. He was charged Wednesday with multiple counts of records tampering and faces up to five years in prison, plus a $15,000 fine, reports the Courier-Post. (More New Jersey stories.)