Mark Adam Keseleski

Every value below is shown exactly as Fatal Encounters recorded it.^[1]

Name as recorded

Mark Adam Keseleski

Age as recorded

46

Gender as recorded

Male

Race as reported

European-American/White

Date of the injury resulting in death

June 15, 2006

Location as recorded

Woodbridge, Middlesex CountyNew Jersey Turnpike, Mile 94.3 Woodbridge NJ 07095 Middlesex

Highest level of force as recorded

Asphyxiated/Restrained

Agency or agencies involved, as recorded: New Jersey State Police

An agency appears here because it appears in the record's as-reported agency field, nothing more. Its presence is not a claim of fault or responsibility.

Fatal Encounters' description of the incident, verbatim. This is the source project's own third-party narrative, not this site's reporting.

Troopers Thomas Murtha and Steven Levash responded about 9:15 p.m. to a report of a single-car crash on the northbound outer roadway of the Turnpike. They found a 1999 Saturn SL2 on fire in a swampy area on the berm of the roadway. The troopers encountered the driver near the burning vehicle, and there was a struggle. The driver bit Trooper Murtha on his left forearm, Trooper Murtha used pepper spray, and the driver ultimately was handcuffed by the troopers. Minutes after the driver was moved to the berm of the roadway, he died.

Source reported by Fatal Encounters: http://www.nj.gov/lps/newsreleases06/pr20060616a.html (external link, as recorded in the dataset).

What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?

Fatal Encounters records that Mark Adam Keseleski died on June 15, 2006 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, with "Asphyxiated/Restrained" as the highest level of force. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset of deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind; a record is not a finding of fault or misconduct.

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Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?

The record's agency field reads "New Jersey State Police". Presence in that field means the agency appears in the record as reported, nothing more; it is not a claim of fault or responsibility by any officer or agency.

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Where did this happen?

The record places the death in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, on June 15, 2006. The address as recorded is New Jersey Turnpike, Mile 94.3 Woodbridge NJ 07095 Middlesex.

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Does this record mean police caused or were at fault for this death?

No. Fatal Encounters documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits and crashes, suicides that occurred in police presence, and medical emergencies. This record documents that a death occurred during an encounter; it is not a finding of fault, misconduct, or wrongdoing, and it has no connection to the discipline records elsewhere on this site.

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