Police: Arrested Man Kicks, Attempts to Urinate on Mahwah Cops

A Pennsylvania man is facing aggravated assault charges after allegedly kicking and attempting to urinate on Mahwah Police Officers while being apprehended in connection with a drunk driving incident, Mahwah Police Chief Jim Batelli said Wednesday.

According to Batelli, police responded to a call about a hit-and-run accident in which a driver struck a tree near Halstead Way Tuesday. When police found the car involved in the crash, its owner, Andrea D’Anton, 23, of Mahwah, first told police that she had been driving and lost control of the car, Batelli said. 

However, when police questioned inconsistencies between her story and that of accident witnesses, D’Anton admitted that her boyfriend, John K. Sassaman, 26, was driving, Batelli said.

According to cops, Sassaman, who is from Pennsylvania but is employed by a local supermarket, failed a field sobriety test and was arrested on DWI charges.

When cops in Mahwah found an outstanding warrant out of Bucks County, Pennsylvania for Sassaman’s arrest, they began to transport him to the Bergen County Jail, Batelli said. When removed from his cell in Mahwah, Batelli said Sassaman became “extremely combative and argumentative” and began arguing with officers.

“During the altercation he kicked Officer Jonathan Lange and was subsequently subdued by Sergeant Michael Blondin and Officer Matthew Lombardo,” Batelli said Wednesday.

“Once he was placed back in a jail cell he urinated on the floor in the cell and attempted to urinate on the officers all the while spitting in the general direction of the officers.”

Sassaman has been charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, disorderly persons offense, DWI, and four other motor vehicle violations, Batelli said. His girlfriend, D’Anton, was charged with providing false information to police and a motor vehicle complaint, police said.