Festival Death Spawns Lawsuit

The wrongful death suit filed by the family of Timothy J. Harden, 38, claims security officers and possibly staff at the Sept. 5 Souper Groove Music Festival used “excessive and unreasonable physical force” when they restrained Harden, who experienced a “medical episode” after consuming alcohol and cocaine, according to the Asbury Park Press.

“We don’t condone the drug use or any of that, but that certainly did not give anyone an excuse to do this to him,” said Thomas J. Mallon, the Harden family’s attorney. The claim alleges that Harden, who was volunteering at the festival, suffered fractured cartilage in the neck, contusions and abrasions.

Named in the suit are employees of the Howell Township Police Department, the Priedaine New Jersey Latvian Society, Griffins Security and Souper Groove, including organizers Jeffrey Mahajan, Andrew R. Meyer and Christy Meyer. Howell Police Chief Andrew Kudrick Jr. said in a statement to the Press: “A ‘meaningful review’ is required to be completed for several incidents, including an officer’s use of force. However, based upon my initial review of the incident, including my presence at the scene that day, I am confident my officers acted properly and professionally and in accordance with all policies and procedures relating to the use of force and dealing with subjects displaying unusual and violent behavior.”

Police were called at about 3 p.m. Sept. 5 to respond to a disorderly person at the festival, which was hosted at the New Jersey Latvian Society’s center.

Event organizers reportedly said they called police because Harden was acting violent and paranoid, at one point fighting with security guards, Mallon said. He said it was later revealed that Harden had cocaine in his system and a blood-alcohol content of 0.11 percent, which would be over the limit of 0.08 percent for driving, the Press reported. Harden was then turned over to police, after which he was allegedly choked to death, the suit said. The lawsuit alleges, among other claims, negligence, excessive force and civil rights violations. It seeks unspecified compensatory, punitive and other damages and relief.