Officer sustains minor neck injury BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer SAYREVILLE - Police said an intoxicated man hit and injured a borough police officer who responded to a private residence on Christmas Day. Police arrested 22-year-old Elizabeth resident Matthew V. Torre, charging him with disorderly conduct, at an Upper Main Street home where police were dispatched on a report of a man slipping in and out of consciousness. When Patrolmen Keith Grausam and Jamie Sztukowski arrived at the home at 7:42 p.m. Dec. 25, several people directed them to a struggle between two men taking place on a deck at the rear of the property. Torre was reportedly wrestling with a member of his family, as other members tried to calm him down. Police said they ordered Torre to let the man go, but that he continued to thrash around and knock down furniture. Grausam approached Torre with an oxygen device in hand due to the nature of the call that was made to police. Torre pushed the man he was wrestling with away, and lunged at Grausam, allegedly striking the officer in the back of the neck with a closed fist. Sztukowski ran up the stairs of the deck as Grausam pushed the suspect against the railing in an attempt to gain control of him. Sztukowski then grabbed Torre around his upper body, tackled the suspect to the floor and handcuffed him, according to the police report. Police transported Torre to headquarters without further incident. He was then transported by first aid personnel to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy for treatment and evaluation. Sztukowski, who transported Grausam to Raritan Bay Medical Center, Perth Amboy, wrote in his report that Grausam sustained an injury to his neck, which was swelling. Police reported that doctors later cleared Grausam to return to duty. The officer reportedly did not lose any time at work, since the incident occurred before his scheduled time off for the holidays.