The son of a former county official faces a new assault accusation years after sexual assault charges were dropped in a case that led to a bitter fight between State Police and local prosecutors.
Ian Schweizer, 38, has been charged with simple assault for attempting to cause “bodily injury to another,” according to Sussex County Sheriff’s records. He is currently in the Keogh-Dwyer Correctional Institute ahead of a Superior Court hearing.
In 2017, a woman accused Schweizer of attacking her outside a bar. Troopers arrested him, but the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office decided there was not enough evidence to bring to court, which led both sides to accuse the other of misconduct.
A 101-page review of that case released last month didn’t find evidence of corruption by officers or prosecutors, but it faulted the two departments for an “immediate and clear breakdown” of communication.
A voicemail left with Schweizer’s lawyer was not immediately returned. The new charge was first reported by Newsweek.
While Schweizer is being held in Sussex County, his new case will be handled by prosecutors in neighboring Morris County.
“When we learned about the new complaint yesterday the Prosecutor and I immediately contacted the Prosecutor Supervision Unit of the Attorney General’s Office to request that they supercede in the matter to avoid any appearance of conflict given the prior baseless allegations,” First Assistant Sussex Prosecutor Gregory Mueller wrote in an email.
A request for more information from the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office was not immediately returned.
News that Schweizer was accused of another assault years later was “upsetting,” said Lauren Fraser, attorney for Laura Gallagher, who previously accused Schweizer of assault.
“Obviously these are charges and nothing’s been proven yet, but if these pan out, it kind of goes to exactly what Laura was trying to prevent by coming forward in the first place,” Fraser said in an interview.
Schweizer’s father is the one-time Executive Director of the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority.
The state attorney general’s office hired an outside law firm last summer to investigate allegations that Glenn Schweizer influenced the earlier decision not to charge his son.
The report ultimately cleared all parties, including the head of the State Police.
That review will likely cost taxpayers more than a quarter of a million dollars, according to records obtained by NJ Advance Media through a public records request.
New Jersey hired the firm Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC in June 2020, according to the retention agreement. The group ultimately billed the state for more than $268,800, according to invoices. Half that amount was still pending approval early April.
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Blake Nelson may be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.
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