Cop hospitalized after NJ student trips him, police say

A Delaware college student from New Jersey has been charged with seriously injuring a cop at a police station after he had been arrested on other charges.

Alexander Mastronardi, 19, is accused of tripping an officer, which caused a serious head injury that has left the officer in rehab.

Mastronardi was one of two former Bernards High School students last month to get in trouble with the law while away at college.

Newark, Delaware police said they first encountered the drunk University of Delaware student about 1:45 a.m. March 23 while he was trying to get into a ride-share vehicle whose driver was screaming for him to let go of the door handle.

The woman told police she did not know Mastronardi.

Mastronardi ignored the officer's order to let go and tried to punch the officer, according to police.

At the police station, Mastronardi refused to produce identification, according to officers. He fought officers and threatened them in the cell block area, according to police. They said he tripped one of the officers, causing him to hit his head on a metal counter and fall to the concrete floor.

The officer suffered a serious head injury and was hospitalized for more than a week. He is now in a rehabilitation center.

The Bernardsville man was initially charged with misdemeanor offenses related to the incident but he was arrested again Monday to face additional charges of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with force or violence, disorderly conduct by obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic and underage consumption of alcohol. He was being held in jail in Delaware.

His MaxPreps.com page says that he competed in football, lacrosse and wrestling at Bernards High School.

Another alumni, Scott Thomas, 20, was expelled from Northwestern University and banned from campus last month after he was accused of sexually assaulting a drunk woman.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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