Louis Sancinito was punched while in front of his Mill Hill home, but police did not arrest the attacker.
TRENTON -- Mill Hill resident Louis Sancinito and his wife were unloading their gym bags from their car in front of their home Tuesday evening when a man approached them and started a confrontation.
Susan Sancinito remembers the man saying, "You got a problem with me?"
Louis Sancinito tried to ignore the man, but he suddenly swung at him, connecting with a punch to the face. The attacker fled, Louis Sancinito followed him and his wife dialed 911.
File photo Trenton patrol officers detained the man near City Hall, with the Sancinito's present.
But the couple's initial satisfaction that the man was in police custody was soon gone. The officers did not arrest the man on an assault charge, but they did issue him a ticket for having an open container of alcohol.
The officers gave Louis Sancinito the instructions on how to file a complaint in court if he wanted to pursue the matter, the couple said.
Sancinito knows the procedure. He was a Trenton municipal court judge for almost a decade.
The Sancinito's said Wednesday they did not need instructions, they needed an arrest.
"My feeling was, you had all the probable cause you needed," Louis Sancinito said. He said two neighbors witnessed the entire confrontation.
"I know, from experience, if I had been stabbed or shot, with much less probable cause someone would have been arrested," the former judge said.
Trenton police spokesman Lt. Stephen Varn confirmed the confrontation and the Sancinito's general version of events. He did not identify the suspect.
Varn said the incident "is under review" by the department and said a police supervisor and community officer personally visited the Sancinitos early Wednesday.
Varn declined to elaborate on why the suspect was not arrested on an assault charge.
Susan Sancinito said the officers handling of the incident was poor and they put the onus on her husband to sign complaints. "I just assumed they would take care of this because this is their job," she said.
Louis Sancinito said he knows that police officers often encounter two combatants rolling around the sidewalk and it's unclear who started the fight. Those incidents usually end up being hashed out in municipal court - where he presided from 2001 to 2010.
This was not that type of case, he said.
"This was witnessed, not just wife, but by two neighbors. We had independent witnesses," he said. "Something was wrong there."
Louis Sancinito said he does not want special treatment base on his past position.
"This isn't about me, I'll be fine," he said. "I care about this city and I care about the safety of my neighbors."
Louis Sancinito said the city cannot afford to have people wandering neighborhoods and attacking people. "It isn't acceptable," he said.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.