A former Tinton Falls cop was awarded $5 million by a federal jury after he sued a New Jersey State Police trooper for excessive force.

Gary Wade was pepper sprayed and handcuffed by Trooper Michael Colaner in 2004 after a motor vehicle stop on the Garden State Parkway. State Police officials have said Colaner’s actions were justified because Wade was speeding, combative with troopers and refused to identify himself as a police officer.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which is representing the trooper in the lawsuit because he patrols the Garden State Parkway, said they are considering appealing the verdict, which was reached last month.

“We think the verdict was flawed. The evidence didn’t support that,” spokesman Joe Orlando said. “It looks like the jury ran away there.”

Wade’s original lawsuit, filed in 2006, asked for $1 million. The jury awarded him $500,000 in compensatory damages and $4.5 million in punitive damages after a five-day trial.

Wade’s attorney,Thomas Cunniff, said his client feels that “justice was finally served.”

“The jury’s verdict was warranted, given what they saw,” he said. “The jury unanimously saw that the use of force by the State Police was excessive.”

The 2004 incident cost Wade his job. He was fired after being convicted in municipal court of charges related to the motor vehicle stop and currently works as a substitute teacher.

Colaner, now a sergeant, still patrols the Parkway and has been with the State Police since 1993.

New York lawyer Susan Chana Lask, who originally represented Wade in the lawsuit, said the goal was not money, but assurance that troopers were correcting following policy and respecting constitutional rights.

“I understand the district court may lower the verdict and defendants intend to appeal, so the best outcome is to hear the appellate court’s decision as the definitive answer to this issue,” she said.

(Source: NJ Star Ledger)