Atlantic City At-Large Councilman Jeffree Fauntleroy II is scheduled to appear in a Cape May County municipal court Tuesday afternoon to enter a plea for his role in a fight outside a casino nightclub last month.
An attorney for Mayor Frank Gilliam Jr., who was also involved in the fight outside the Golden Nugget Atlantic City on Nov. 11, postponed his appearance to a later date.
Fauntleroy, or his attorney, will answer citizen complaints of simple assault and harassment filed by three employees of Haven Nightclub at 1 p.m. in the courtroom of North Wildwood Municipal Judge Louis J. Belasco Jr.
The two elected officials were involved in a melee outside the casino’s signature nightclub with several other individuals.
The casino’s security cameras captured the incident, and the video was made public by the state Attorney General’s Office. The video showed Gilliam exchanging punches with an unidentified individual, and Fauntleroy tossing another man to the ground from behind.
People are also reading…
It is unclear from the video whether anything happened inside Haven that caused the confrontation or what preceded the fight, which began shortly after 2:20 a.m.
According to complaints filed by Julie Rodriguez, Gregory Aulicino and Joseph Camarata, Gilliam “swung a punch but missed but kept trying to attack” one man and chased him around a car after a punch didn’t land while Fauntleroy punched one of the men in the face “a few times then threw him on the floor and chased him.”
Both elected officials are accused of making verbal threats to a woman, saying they were going to (expletive) her up, according to the documents, obtained through an Open Public Records Act request.
Gilliam and Fauntleroy initially described the incident as a verbal disagreement. After The Press reviewed a video of the fight and called them both, they acknowledged the incident turned physical.
The state attorney general transferred the investigation of the incident out of Atlantic County to prevent the perception of a conflict. The Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office investigated the incident but declined to file charges.
In New Jersey, simple assault is a disorderly persons offense and harassment is a petty disorderly offense.
