Camden police sergeant indicted after his ex-wife wrongly arrested

A suspended Camden police sergeant has been indicted for allegedly having his ex-wife wrongly arrested while they were in a custody battle, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office announced Thursday.

Shane Sampson, 41, of Williamstown, signed a complaint with Camden police on Dec. 23, 2009, that led to the arrest of Nooshin Sampson for interference with custody and an eight-hour detention by state and Camden police.

Nooshin Sampson, however, had not committed a crime, according to the Prosecutor's Office; in addition, neither she nor Shane Sampson lived in Camden, and the arrest occurred outside of Camden's jurisdiction, at the Atlantic City International Airport.

Interference with custody matters are usually addressed in Family Court, or at rare times with a summons to appear in criminal court, officials said. It was improper for Shane Sampson to seek an arrest warrant in the matter, officials said.

Sampson is accused of abusing his position as an officer, authorities said.

His ex-wife was in Florida with their toddler daughter at the time the warrant was issued. A court-ordered custody agreement had allowed her to take the child to Florida until Dec. 22, the Prosecutor's Office said. She had informed Shane Sampson she was unable to return to New Jersey until Dec. 28 because she was injured while she was away, authorities said.

Shane Sampson traveled to the Atlantic City airport to make sure his ex-wife was detained by state police on Dec. 28 as she got off the plane with their child, officials said. The couple share custody of the child.

The Prosecutor's Office later reviewed the complaint signed against Nooshin Sampson, who lives in Pine Hill, and dismissed the charges. She had also signed a complaint with Camden's Internal Affairs unit shortly after the incident.

Shane Sampson was arrested in April and released on his own recognizance. That month, his ex-wife sued the Camden department and three sergeants, one of them her ex-husband, alleging she was improperly arrested during the child-custody dispute.

Sampson has been suspended from the force without pay pending the resolution of the second-degree charge of official misconduct and the fourth-degree charge of falsifying or tampering with records, officials said. He was indicted Wednesday.