CAMDEN -- The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office is no longer a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the family of a boy struck and killed by a police car in 2014.
U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez granted a motion to remove the GCPO as defendants in a ruling issued this week.
Matthew McCloskey, 10, was struck by a Franklin Township police car as he crossed Delsea Drive on foot on the way to a friend's house on the evening of Dec. 28, 2014.
The officer, Nicholas Locilento, was responding to a call about an unruly juvenile and traveling at about 74 mph in a 50 mph zone. His emergency lights were not activated.
An investigation determined that Locilento was acting within his department's standards and no criminal charges were filed.
Matthew's mother, Michelle Harding, filed a lawsuit last year, naming Locilento, Franklin Township, Gloucester County, the prosecutor's office, Prosecutor Sean Dalton and state Department of Transportation as defendants.
Harding cited negligent driving, bad policy and inadequate road design as factors in her child's death.
In his ruling, Rodriguez pointed to past legal precedent that "a county prosector's office is not a 'person' capable of being sued."
He also found insufficient grounds for naming Dalton and the county as defendants, but rejected motions to remove them as defendants, granting Harding 30 days to amend her complaint to articulate a claim against both Dalton and the county.
"The allegations concerning Gloucester County currently lack sufficient factual support to raise Plaintiffs' claims above the speculative level," the judge wrote. As for Dalton, "The Amended Complaint fails to plausibly allege Prosecutor Dalton's liability based on his alleged failure to take safety precautions on the relevant roadway. It is not at all clear why, or how, an individual county prosecutor would be responsible for maintaining safety conditions on the road."
The state DOT was previously dismissed as a defendant in the case, citing sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment.
Following the accident, the GCPO created a policy requiring all law enforcement agencies in the county to use emergency lights and sirens when exceeding the road's speed limit by 20 miles per hour or more during a non-emergency call.
Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.