$2.05M Settlement Reached In Death Of Trenton Man Pepper-Sprayed By Police

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — Trenton has authorized a $2,050,000 settlement in the civil lawsuit filed over the 2020 death of Joseph Ahr, a Trenton man who died 18 days after Trenton police pepper-sprayed him during an arrest.

The resolution authorizes settlement of the case, Estate of Joseph Ahr, et al. v. The City of Trenton, et al.,. Trenton City Council approved the settlement Tuesday night.

Patch previously reported that Ahr, 64, was arrested at his Trenton home on July 6, 2020, after an altercation with officers who were looking for his son. Ahr was hospitalized in intensive care for 18 days before he died on July 24, 2020.

Ahr ‘s family field a lawsuit against the city and the Trenton Police Department following his death. The lawsuit alleged officers used "excessive and unjustifiable force" during the arrest.

According to the lawsuit and body camera footage released by the state Attorney General's office, which investigated the incident, Ahr told police he had only one working lung, which often swelled, and told officers he was having difficulty breathing. Officers pulled Ahr from his front door and onto the ground, and an officer pepper-sprayed him while he was being handcuffed.

The lawsuit said officers did not have a warrant and did not treat Ahr after using pepper spray, instead waiting for paramedics to arrive.

A state grand jury indicted the officer who deployed the pepper spray, Nicholas Piotrowski, on a single count of official misconduct in early 2023. Piotrowski was suspended from the force following the indictment.

State prosecutors dropped the charge in May 2025, days before the case was set for trial, after other officers at the scene came forward with additional accounts, according to NJ.com.

Ahr's death was also cited in a 2024 U.S. Justice Department investigation that found Trenton police routinely used excessive force against people who posed no threat, including through the overuse of pepper spray. The report concluded Ahr "posed no threat" to officers and accused them of escalating the confrontation before throwing him against his porch railing and slamming him facedown on the steps.

The settlement contains no admission of wrongdoing by Trenton or its officers. Taxpayers are covering nearly $461,000 of the payout, with the remainder covered by the city's insurer.

The Ahr family's attorneys, Robin Lord and Cliff Bidlingmaier, said in a statement to NJ.com that they hope the resolution brings "some measure of closure" to their clients, adding that "no settlement can ever replace a human life or erase the profound loss experienced by a family."

The settlement resolves the family's wrongful death claims against the city and the Trenton Police Department.

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