NJ police sergeant kept getting naked in front of female cops, lawsuit says

TRENTON — A Trenton police sergeant is accused of repeatedly getting undressed and exposing himself in front of two female police officers in the middle of their department gym, according to a lawsuit.

Sgt. Noel Santiago was suspended from the Trenton Police Department this past May, according to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Mercer County last month.

The two female officers, who each have served the department for over a decade, also filed criminal charges against Santiago for lewdness, NJ.com reported.

The lawsuit said Santiago began by making lewd comments to the female officers including that one of them should "start a naked wellness business."

This escalated into the sergeant taking off his shirt around the women and then he began fully changing in the middle of the department, the lawsuit said.

Santiago fully exposed himself at least three times in one week in April 2024, according to the lawsuit. It also said Santiago only changed in front of the two female police officers; he went to the men's locker room to change when other men were working out.

The department's Internal Affairs Bureau opened an investigation after the female officers gave statements on video, the lawsuit said.

Botched internal affairs investigation

But it was a "sham" and the investigation failed to follow protocols, the lawsuit said.

Initially, Santiago's brother-in-law was assigned to handle the accusations. The lawsuit called this a "blatant conflict of interest."

The department said Santiago would not be allowed to enter police headquarters during the investigation but this policy was not enforced, the lawsuit said. The accusations were leaked to the rest of the police department.

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An edited video clip from Seinfeld was then shared between Trenton police officers mocking the investigation, the lawsuit said. The one-minute clip was from an episode in which Elaine's date suddenly took out his genitals.

According to the lawsuit, Santiago was only suspended with pay after the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office intervened in the mishandled internal affairs investigation.

He was then allowed to return to work less than two months later without further punishment.

The lawsuit says the police department violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and demands the department's officers go through workplace civility, anti-discrimination, and anti-retaliation training.

Townsquare Media has reached out to the Trenton police for comment.