Date of Offense
Official Statement
A New Jersey law-enforcement supervisor, Sgt. Darryl Brown of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, has been charged with third-degree theft after allegedly taking a photojournalist’s camera bag during protests outside Delaney Hall, an immigration detention facility in Newark. The bag reportedly contained about $10,000 in cameras and equipment.
The journalist was Angelina Katsanis, an Associated Press photojournalist covering the May 30, 2026 protest. According to the reports, she was struck in the knee by a wood beam during a clash between police and demonstrators and left the bag behind while going to receive medical treatment. The bag was marked with her name and contact information.
Katsanis used an AirTag or similar tracking device to locate the bag, which led investigators to Brown’s home in Sparta, New Jersey. The tracking device was later found discarded along a road, but a search warrant at Brown’s residence allegedly recovered several items from the bag, including items bearing Katsanis’s name and phone number. Investigators also reportedly reviewed body-camera footage showing Brown “interacting” with the bag at the protest scene.
Brown has been suspended without pay by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. The reported charge is third-degree theft; the available reports do not indicate a conviction, so the allegation remains pending.
The Brady/Giglio significance is direct: an on-duty law-enforcement sergeant assigned to a protest scene is accused of stealing property from an injured journalist and then allegedly possessing identifiable stolen equipment at his home. If sustained, the conduct would implicate dishonesty, theft, abuse of official access, evidence/property handling credibility, and public-trust violations. For any case in which Brown served as an investigator, witness, supervisor, affiant, evidence custodian, or credibility-dependent law-enforcement participant, prosecutors would likely need to evaluate disclosure obligations.
