A man with autism has filed a false arrest and discrimination lawsuit against a police department in Bergen County, claiming he spent 13 days in jail after being wrongly accused of stalking his neighbors.
William Krywos, 53, says in court papers that Ho-Ho-Kus police arrested him at his Duncan Road home on June 13, 2024, after he was recorded on the neighbors’ security camera muttering to himself.
A detective with the Ho-Ho-Kus Police Department wrote in court charging documents that Krywos had been making “bodily movements, singing songs and used vulgar language aimed at his next-door neighbors,” according to the lawsuit that was filed in state court on May 29.
Krywos was indicted on stalking and harassment charges, but the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the case, according to the lawsuit.
Attorney Diane M. Lucianna who filed the lawsuit, said Krywos often speaks to himself while doing yard work.
“Everybody’s different,” Lucianna said. “He mutters to himself. But he has not bothered the neighbors.”
“But these neighbors apparently did not like what they saw and heard on the camera,” she said.
The lawsuit claims the arresting officer omitted from the complaint-warrant the fact that Krywos’ actions were not committed in the presence of the alleged victims but were instead discovered by them on video.
The video showed only that Krywos was muttering to himself — a symptom of his disability, which police knew about from prior interactions with him, alleges the suit.
The suit claims the detective could have issued Krywos a summons, which would have allowed him to remain free pending court hearings.
But the officer arrived with several other officers, arrested Krywos and transported him to the county jail, where he was held for 13 days until June 26, 2024, according to the suit.
“With knowledge of (Krywos’) disability, the complaint-warrant was issued without probable cause and defendants sought and obtained detention of plaintiff,” the suit states.
Ho-Ho-Kus Police Chief Mike LaCroix and Borough Administrator William Jones did not immediately respond to emails and calls seeking comment on the suit.
Tim Wiss, the borough attorney, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The suit states Ho-Ho-Kus has been designated a “Stigma Free Zone,” meaning the borough passed a resolution to eliminate mental health discrimination and train its employees on stereotypes and illness.
Still, police decided to arrest Krywos “without probable cause” and hold him in the county jail, the suit states.
As a result, Krywos was forced to hire a lawyer to fight the allegations, which were ultimately dismissed.
The lawsuit alleges false arrest, gross negligence and violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
Krywos alleges in the suit that the arrest was “malicious and belligerent” and caused him emotional distress, humiliation and loss of freedom.
