Officer charged with stealing journalist's camera bag after allegedly being tracked with AirTag

A New Jersey law enforcement officer was charged Thursday for allegedly stealing cameras and other equipment from a photojournalist who was injured while covering anti-immigration enforcement protests outside Delaney Hall over the weekend.

Sgt. Darryl Brown, 43, an officer with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, has been charged with third-degree theft for allegedly taking a bag filled with $10,000 worth of cameras and equipment from the Newark protest site after the unidentified photographer was taken to the hospital Saturday, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said.

The photographer was identified by her attorney as Angelina Katsanis.

The bag and stolen goods were located using an Apple AirTag, which led investigators to Brown's home, according to the AG's office.

Brown has been suspended without pay as the AG's office conducts its investigation, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens said in a statement. Attorney information for Brown has not immediately been released.

Wylie Stecklow, Katsanis's attorney, told ABC News he and his client were grateful for the investigators' for pursuing the case and acting swiftly.

He said that the alleged theft was a "direct assault on the freedom of the press and the constitutional underpinnings of our society."

"This was not a random theft of personal items like a wallet or clothing; it was a targeted seizure of a work bag filled with tools protected by the First Amendment—the very equipment a journalist relies on to document newsworthy events and inform the public," Stecklow said.

Protests have been ongoing outside the Immigrations Customs and Enforcement detention center for nearly two weeks over allegations that the 300 inmates inside are not receiving proper medical care, aren't being adequately fed and their living conditions are poor.

The Department of Homeland Security has denied the allegations and maintained the detainees are being properly treated.

Since protests began on May 22, there have been several clashes between some demonstrators and federal and state officers, including some where pepper spray and batons were used by officers.

Last Friday, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill ordered state police officers to set up a perimeter between the protesters and detention center to ease tensions.

Katsanis was covering Saturday's protest and dropped the bag as they were being transported to the hospital after they were injured, investigators and her attorney said.

The photographer tracked the AirTag to a house in Sparta Township where Brown lived, according to the AG's office.

A friend of the photographer later recovered the AirTag several miles away from the house, the AG's office said.

Investigators conducted a search of Brown's house on Wednesday and found several of the photographer's missing items, " including several items that still had the victim’s name and phone number printed on labels affixed to them," according to the AG's office.

Brown was on duty and working at Delaney Hall Saturday, and body camera footage from that day allegedly showed the officer interacting with a dark colored bag that was similar to the photographer's bag, according to the AG.

Brown was issued a summons to appear in court on July 7.

"When an officer does what is alleged in this case, it is a disservice to the profession and the public. I previously pledged that our Office would review allegations of improper conduct by law enforcement," Davenport said in a statement. "We are doing exactly that, and this case is a result of that effort."

Stecklow told ABC News he and his client were grateful that investigators pursued the case and acted swiftly.

"As a professional journalist, my client’s place is behind the camera, gathering and sharing the news—not in front of it as the subject of the story. While this is an incredibly uncomfortable position for her, this incident does not exist in a vacuum," Stecklow said in a statement.