Grand jury indicts Newark police officer who fatally shot fleeing driver – NJ.com

A Newark police officer has been indicted after he shot repeatedly at a fleeing vehicle Jan. 28, killing the driver and seriously injuring the passenger.

A grand jury indicted the 26-year-old officer Tuesday after hearing evidence over the course of several weeks about the actions of the suspended officer, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. The office will announce the specific charges and more details at a press conference at 6:45 p.m.

The indictment comes nearly three months after the prosecutor and Newark police both said they had serious concerns about the officer’s conduct during the incident and that he had been suspended without pay.

The incident began Jan. 28 when Gregory C. Griffin, 46, fled a traffic stop after an officer allegedly spotted a handgun in his vehicle, according to police. A cruiser the officer was in gave chase and he fired at the fleeing vehicle at three separate locations during the pursuit, according to police. In a use of force report, the officers involved reported that the passenger in the car, Andrew J. Dixon, 35, repeatedly pointed a gun at the cruiser but didn’t fire it.

When the car finally came to a stop at 54 Irvine Turner Boulevard, police found that Griffin had been shot in the head and Dixon was shot in the face, according to authorities and police records. Griffin died at University Hospital and Dixon, who was initially in critical condition, was charged with possessing the illegal handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets, police said.

While shooting at a moving vehicle is not prohibited for cops, the New Jersey Attorney General’s use-of-force guidelines say officers should only fire on moving vehicles if there are no other options and there is an “imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm to the officer or another person.”

“The safety of innocent people is jeopardized when a fleeing suspect is disabled and loses control of his or her vehicle,” the guidelines say. “There is also a substantial risk of harm to occupants of the suspect vehicle who may not be involved, or involved to a lesser extent, in the actions which necessitated the use of deadly force.”

When the officer was first suspended, James Stewart Jr., president of the Newark FOP, said the decision was premature and left the officer wondering how he would “feed his children, or pay his mortgage.” He also said that the fact that the fleeing suspects never ditched the gun suggested they intended to use it.

In February, after announcing the officer’s suspension, both Newark police and the prosecutor’s office refused to publicly name the officer or release police video of the incident in response to records requests, arguing that it shouldn’t be released until the end of the grand jury process.

Earlier this month, attorney CJ Griffin sued the prosecutor’s office on behalf of Richard Rivera, a police practices expert, arguing there is no “lawful reason to justify non-disclosure” of records detailing the officer’s identity.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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