TOMS RIVER – An East Orange man has pleaded guilty to biting a Toms River police officer while he was being taken into custody in July 2021, announced Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer on Friday.
Marquis Belnavis, 29, could be sentenced to spend the next seven years in state prison for his crimes, which also include cocaine distribution and heroin possession with intent to distribute, according to a statement from the Prosecutor’s Office.
Belnavis admitted to drug trafficking throughout Ocean County before state Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill, in addition to the charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. That assault conviction was the result of an incident on July 9, 2021, as police were arresting Belnavis during a traffic stop. Just before the vehicle he was in had been pulled over, Belnavis had been observed drug dealing while under surveillance by the Toms River Police Special Enforcement Team, the statement said.
As the police were placing Belnavis in custody, he attempted to flee the scene and bit one of the officers on the hand. He was ultimately taken to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River, but was later released on his own recognizance, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
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Belnavis has admitted to selling narcotics in Toms River, Ocean Gate and Stafford — continuing to do so for more than a year after his initial arrest in 2021 when he attacked the officer, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Burke is handling the case on behalf of the state of New Jersey.
Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ man pleads guilty to biting Toms River police officer