By: Najla Alexander
Authorities in Somerset County announced that on January 28, the Hon. Peter J. Tober, P.J.Cr., sentenced defendant Brian A. Niziolek, 39, of Basking Ridge, to 30 years of incarceration in New Jersey State Prison, with 27 years of parole ineligibility, for his December 11, 2025, conviction for:
(1) Second-degree aggravated assault (attempt to cause serious bodily injury)
(2) Second-degree eluding
(3) Second-degree burglary while armed with a deadly weapon
(4) Second-degree unlawful possession of an assault firearm
(5) Second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun
(6) Third-degree aggravated assault (causing bodily injury to a law enforcement officer)
(7) Third-degree resisting arrest
(8) Fourth-degree unlawful possession of a high-capacity ammunition magazine
(9) Fourth-degree unlawful possession of a knife
(10) Second-degree, certain persons are not to possess firearms.
Accordingly, the defendant must serve 27 years before he is eligible for parole. The defendant’s conviction stems from events that occurred on June 29, 2023, when the defendant was apprehended and arrested by Manville Police Lieutenant (Lt.) John Crater, after the defendant struck Lt. Crater with his vehicle as the defendant fled from an investigative detention on Pope Street in Manville, SCPO officials say.
Somerset County officials stated that on that date, the Manville Police Department received a report that the defendant was in possession of a stolen vehicle. Manville Lt. Crater and Ofc. John Chismar located the defendant driving the vehicle on Pope Street.
The Manville officers exited their police vehicle and attempted to detain the defendant, but the defendant turned the wheels toward Lt. Crater, accelerated, and struck Lt. Crater in his arm and hip with the vehicle, propelling Lt. Crater against his own police vehicle, SCPO officials say.
Lt. Crater and Ofc. Chismar immediately returned to their police vehicle and pursued the defendant as he sped away through Manville, with a Manville Police Officer in pursuit, SCPO officials said. Christopher Ciempola is joining the pursuit in his marked patrol SUV. The defendant fled through Manville at speeds in excess of 60 mph and drove the wrong way down a one-way street until he crashed into a vehicle and then into a house on North 5th Avenue.
According to Somerset County officials, after crashing into the house, the defendant fled from police on foot until he broke through a basement window of a multi-unit apartment building located on Brooks Boulevard in Manville. There, the defendant attempted to hide in a crawl space in the basement.
Manville Police officers, with the assistance of officers from Bridgewater, Hillsborough, and a Somerset County Sheriff’s Department K9 Unit, surrounded the house, entered the basement, and located the defendant hiding in a crawl space. Lt. Crater removed the defendant from the crawl space, handcuffed him, and placed him under arrest, Somerset County officials said.
SCPO officials said police then searched the vehicle the defendant was operating and recovered an illegal MAC-11 type 9mm semi-automatic assault firearm and an illegal high-capacity ammunition magazine containing 30 rounds, along with a bullet-proof vest.
In addition, on January 12, 2026, Defendant Niziolek was charged with third-degree attempted witness retaliation and harassment, a petty disorderly person’s offense, for an incident that occurred in the courtroom during the trial, SCPO authorities stated. On December 4, 2025, as he was being led into the courtroom by sheriff’s officers, the defendant spat on an attorney seated in the courtroom whom he mistakenly believed to be a witness for the State.
Following the incident, Somerset County officials said, the defendant told a sheriff’s officer that he was “having a bad day,” and admitted, “I f***ed up.”
SCPO officials said this charge remains pending in Somerset County Superior Court.