Cherry Hill police body-cam footage still leaves questions on charges against Gary Busey
CHERRY HILL – What did actor Gary Busey tell Cherry Hill officers about his interactions with convention goers last month that resulted in sex assault charges?
It’s still unknown.
Video recordings of township officers’ interactions with the actor released to the Courier-Post/USA Today Network New Jersey were heavily redacted, stripping out all audio and video related to the investigation.
The Courier-Post/USA Today Network New Jersey made an Open Public Records Act request for body-cam footage of the investigation into allegations Busey criminally groped three women during fan interactions at the Monster Mania Convention Aug. 13-14 at the DoubleTree Hotel.
Formal charges against Busey were announced a week later.
The request for the body-cam footage, which is considered public record under state law, was made after the state Judiciary made available a criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause against Busey that included a reference to the actor admitting to the allegations and “asking detectives to apologize to the women then asking detectives to talk the women out of pursuing complaints.”
But the video footage released Tuesday includes nothing that validates that statement.
The township provided the Courier-Post/USA Today Network New Jersey 17 video clips —some of which appear not to be from body-cameras but from room-mounted cameras — that total nearly three hours of recordings.
Nearly all of it is redacted, which includes full or partial blurring of video images and muted audio.
Less than five minutes of the released footage contains unredacted audio and video, none of which is relevant to the case.
Busey, 78, was a featured guest at the convention and was participating in fan photoshoots. Two women told investigators he grabbed their buttocks during the photograph sessions and a third said he put his face near her breasts "and asked her where she got them before attempting to unlatch her bra strap," according to the criminal complaint.
Most of the videos released to the Courier-Post/USA Today Network New Jersey were recorded on Saturday, Aug. 13, according to time stamps.
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A 28-minute recording, titled BUSEY INTERVIEW, contains no unredacted material. It's not clear when or where the recording was made, but shapes in the blurred video resemble a hotel room.
In one unblurred three-second portion of a recording made on Sunday, Aug. 14, Busey can be seen standing at the hotel's porte-cochère holding a square, silver briefcase, wearing a sport coat and baseball hat.
Another unredacted portion of that same recording runs for roughly 28 seconds and shows Busey leaning against an SUV while talking with another man holding a notepad and pen. It’s not clear who that man is.
There is no audio during those two unblurred clips.
In a final recording, titled BUSEY CONTACT and also recorded Sunday, Aug. 14, there is an extended portion of unredacted video with audio.
In it, an officer approaches the black SUV from the rear as Busey moves toward an open door on passenger side.
Someone asks “how do I get a hold of you?” followed by a brief bit of garbled conversation and then a a voice asking “for what reason?”
The audio then cuts out again for roughly 25 seconds before someone asks Busey “good weather up there?”
The actor responds, “just like this, believe it or not.” That’s followed by an exchange about whether Busey has palm trees in Malibu, California, where he lives.
Busey can be seen greeting a passer-by and shaking someone’s hand while still engaging with the officer, who makes reference to “going on two-and-half-hours of sleep since Friday.”
When the audio returns, Busey is seen reaching into his rear pocket to find his wallet as an officer asks if the actor still has the officer’s contact card.
The officer then wishes Busey a “safe trip” home.
Busey was scheduled for a first appearance in court on Wednesday, Aug. 31, but the case was postponed. He has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault and one count of harassment.
Court officials said Busey is not expected to appear in person when that hearing is rescheduled.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Gary Busey arrest: Cherry Hill NJ police body-cam released