The 2012 lawsuit alleged that the chief punched his nephew twice in the face.
MERCHANTVILLE -- A lawsuit alleging the on-duty Merchantville police chief punched a man in the face was settled last year for $20,000, according to recently-disclosed documents.
The suit alleges that police Chief Wayne Bauer entered his nephew's car in the Taco Bell parking lot in Pennsauken Nov. 19, 2012 and after arguing with him, punched him twice in the nose.
This information comes from documents Merchantville borough Clerk Denise Brouse provided last month in response to an Open Public Records Act request from transparency advocate John Paff.
Paff, the chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project, posted the documents on his NJ Civil Settlements blog. They include an April 8, 2015 letter from Bauer's attorney to borough officials stating that the suit was settled for $20,000.
The documents did not specify who was on the hook for the settlement, but Brouse told Paff that neither the borough or the borough's insurance company paid it.
Bauer's nephew, Joseph DiNoto, of Maple Shade, filed the suit in November 2014 against Bauer, the Merchantville Police Department and the borough. He was seeking costs incurred and damages and arguing that he suffered disfigurement, pain and mental anguish.
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Based on the Pennsauken police report and the lawsuit made public by Paff, DiNoto alleges that he was bringing his cousin to the Taco Bell on Route 73 for lunch when she started arguing on the phone with her father, Bauer. They were parked in the parking lot when Bauer appeared and pulled his daughter from the car, DiNoto said.
Eventually Bauer got into the passenger seat of the car and argued with his nephew before striking him twice in the face, DiNoto told police and alleged in the suit.
According to the police report by responding officer Ricardo Figueroa, DiNoto's nose was cleaned up by EMTs and had a small laceration on it. He went to Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center for further treatment, Figueroa noted.
When asked what he and his uncle had been arguing about, DiNoto said he was "not sure but believed it had something to do with street drugs," Figueroa wrote in the report.
Ten minutes later, Bauer went to the Pennsauken Police Department to report that a man had grabbed his arm and taken a swing at him in the Taco Bell parking lot.
The suit alleges that Bauer was on duty, in uniform and driving an unmarked police car at the time of the incident. One witness said he was in a blue uniform.
Figueroa noted that he advised DiNoto's mother, who was at the scene, of the process for filing a simple assault complaint in municipal court, but the lawsuit does not mention whether any complaint was filed by DiNoto.
Staff at the Merchantville police station said Bauer was on vacation and not available to comment Thursday. He is a resident of Maple Shade.
Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.