Tattoos lead feds to 2 more suspects accused of trying to light Trenton police car on fire after protest

Two additional suspects have been charged with trying to set a Trenton police car ablaze during the rioting May 31 that followed a peaceful protest of the killing of George Floyd, authorities said.

On Wednesday, FBI agents arrested Killian F. Melecio, 20, of Columbus in Mansfield, and Kadeem A. Dockery, 29, of Trenton, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced in a statement.

Investigators identified Melecio and Dockery through their distinctive tattoos seen on the video footage, the statement said.

Each was charged with one count of attempting to damage or destroy by fire a vehicle owned or possessed by an institution receiving federal financial assistance and one count of attempting to damage or destroy by fire a vehicle used in and affecting interstate commerce.

Both men appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni via teleconference. Dockery was released, Melecio was detained.

Four people have now been charged with trying to light the police car aflame during riotous outbursts of violence in downtown Trenton that followed the protest.

After the protest in solidarity with Floyd - who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes - a group of people gathered on East State Street downtown and began to smash store fronts, loot businesses and attack marked Trenton police vehicles parked nearby.

Already charged are Earlja J. Dudley, 27, of Trenton, who was arrested after a street camera allegedly caught him and a then-unidentified man working together to stuff a flaming object into the engine well of a marked Trenton police cruiser.

And Justin Spry, 21, of South Plainfield, who was arrested at the scene of the rioting on May 31. A street camera recorded Spry and another person trying to stuff a piece of cloth into the gas tank of a marked police vehicle and ignite it, federal prosecutors said.

According to the updated criminal complaint in the case, city street camera footage captured Dockery trying to light an explosive device while standing by the driver’s side door of a Trenton police car. Video of the scene published by a media outlet then showed Dockery lighting the explosive device and throwing it through the open front driver’s side window of a Trenton police car, the complaint said.

At 8:20 p.m. May 31, a city street camera also caught Dockery take off his shirt and hand it to Melecio, along with a folder full of papers, the complaint said. Melecio is then see stuffing the shirt into the gas well of the car, the complaint said. Melecio tried to light the shirt on fire, but wasn’t able to, the complaint said.

It was then that Spry, also caught on street camera footage, came to help Melecio, the complaint said. Spry then tries once more to light the bundle of shirt and papers as Melecio stayed near the gas tank to help him, the complaint said. Soon, police officers approached the two men and Melecio fled, the complaint said.

Although Spry also tried to run, officers were able to apprehend and arrest him, the complaint said. As officers were arresting Spry on the sidewalk behind the car, Dockery was seen on camera footage crouching on the other side of the car, lighting another explosive device and throwing it over the car at the officers, the complaint said.

The device exploded at the officers’ feet and Dockery took off, the complaint said.

The night of May 31 was a pock mark on a wave of mostly peaceful protests that went through New Jersey and across the country. Hours earlier, a protest remained peaceful with at least 1,000 protesters marching in the city, ending the march at a city police station. There, many officers took a knee in solidarity with the protesters.

But later, violence and destruction coursed through downtown Trenton, as thousands of people caused an estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage, officials previously said. Vandals smashed store windows, stole merchandise and threw bricks and filled water bottles at police, a city spokesman previously said.

On June 1, the city said 60 businesses had been damaged.

The turmoil permeated the Trenton police department, with city Police Director Sheilah Coley being accused of preventing a group of police officers from responding to a report of people trying to light Tony Liquor bar, on East Hanover Street, on fire.

According to a police officer’s bodycam, Coley asked officers’ at the scene “Can you stop anybody from pouring gas on a building? No, right? So that’s not your mission. That’s the fire department’s mission.”

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office had said it was examining Coley’s actions after receiving two complaints of her actions during the riot.

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Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com.

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