Lawrence Furlow was never convicted despite being tried twice for the alleged thefts
Lawrence Furlow (Newark Police)NEWARK - The city has agreed to settle a lawsuit by a former officer who lost his job after being accused of shaking down criminals for money, drug and guns.
The City Council on Wednesday approved a $150,000 settlement for Lawrence Furlow and his defense attorney Thomas Ashley. The settlement will be paid through a city insurance trust fund.
Furlow and Ashley filed suit against the city in May 2013 seeking reimbursement nearly $1 million in legal fees incurred during Furlow's two trials for conspiracy, theft and official misconduct, both of which ended in hung juries.
The charges had stemmed from separate internal investigations, including one in which he and another officer were accused of approaching two suspects at gunpoint and demanding they hand over cell phones, cash, and weapons. The two later allegedly kept about $200 of the money they had confiscated.
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In statements to investigators, Furlow admitted taking the cash for personal use, and said he had received money on several occasions in the past from other officers who had seized cash during the course of arrests.
He was eventually fired, though he later claimed at trial that he had been coerced into the confessions by confidantes who told him it was "the only way to keep him out of prison", according to court documents.
The second of his cases ended in a hung jury in 2012, and authorities declined to pursue the charges a third time.
During lawsuit proceedings, Newark had argued that Furlow had acted unlawfully during the course of his duties as an officer, regardless of the lack of any conviction. Essex County Superior Court Judge Thomas R. Vena rejected the argument in March, however, and ordered the case to proceed toward trial.
Alan Zegas, Furlow and Ashley's Chatham-based attorney, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Furlow is not the only Newark officer to be accused of illegal stealing cash and other goods from suspects. In a scathing report released in July 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice cited a pattern of theft by officers as being among a host of problems prompting it to order a number of reforms for the police department.
Dan Ivers may be reached at divers@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanIversNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
