Lawsuit: Cops roughed me up, blamed me for peeing myself after Far Hills Race

FAR HILLS — Another problem for NJ Transit to deal with: An accusation of assault against one of its police officers.

According to the NJ Civil Settlements website, NJ Transit and the Borough of Far Hills have agreed to pay Samuel H. Collingswood $7,500 each as part of a settlement over the way Collingswood claims he was treated in 2012 by NJ Transit Police and Far Hills Police who charged him with urinating in public and soiling a chair in chair in court.

Collingswood and friend Chris Twombly were waiting for a train home at the Far Hills Races when, according to the suit, Twombly complained about the fare. An officer grabbed him on the shoulder, and Collingswood told him Twombly had recently dislocated his shoulder, the suit alleges. Collingswood claims several officers slammed his head into the side of a train, dragged him from the station and threw him into a bush along Route 202, causing him to urinate on himself.

Collinsgwood and Twombly said in the suit they had been drinking but "had not violated any laws or ordinances."

The suit also says that five months later, Collingswood was cited for urinating while he was handcuffed in custody, ruining a cloth chair in the Far Hills municipal courtroom. He said that was retaliation for Collingswood filing a motion to stop a disorderly persons charge.

Under the settlement no party admits guilt.