Prosecutor has ‘serious concerns’ about cop who fired on moving car, killing 1 – NJ.com

A Newark police officer who shot and killed a man, and wounded another, during a car chase Jan. 29 has been suspended without pay after authorities have said his actions that night might rise to the level of criminal charges.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II said his office is investigating and will leave it to a grand jury to consider whether the unnamed officer should be charged.

“The investigation is active and ongoing, but the evidence gathered, so far, raises serious questions about the officer’s conduct,” Stephens said in a statement Tuesday.

His release came two hours after Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose announced he had decided to suspend the officer without pay.

“We have concerns about this shooting and will cooperate fully with the Essex County Prosecutor’s investigation,” Ambrose said. “All of the body and dashboard camera recordings have been handed over to prosecutor.”

Neither the prosecutor’s office nor Newark police have released the officer’s name, but Ambrose said he has been on the force for 18 months.

The officer fired on the car during a chase in three separate locations, shooting both the driver, Greg C. Griffin, who died, and the passenger, Andrew Dixon, Ambrose said in a release Tuesday.

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While shooting at a moving vehicle is not prohibited, the New Jersey Attorney General’s guidelines on use of force notes that shooting at a driver is generally not a good way to stop a moving vehicle and poses an “even greater risk of death or serious injury to innocent persons” than most other shootings.

James Stewart Jr., president of the Newark FOP, said it is “extremely disappointing” that the city would suspend the officer before the investigation is complete.

The incident began around 11:15 p.m. Jan. 29 when an officer tried to stop a car at Thomas Street and Pennsylvania Avenue and saw a firearm inside. The car drove off and the officer gave chase

Authorities did not say if the officer who tried to stop the vehicle was the one who fired on it at three locations during the chase. The car came to a stop at Irvine Turner Boulevard and West Kinney Street, and Griffin and Dixon were rushed to University Hospital for treatment. A loaded handgun was recovered from the car, authorities said.

Griffin, 46, of Newark, died at the hospital. Dixon, 34, also of Newark, was also shot and was initially in critical condition. His condition was later upgraded to stable, the release said.

Dixon is charged with possessing the gun, Newark police said.

The attorney general’s use of force guidelines say officers should only fire on moving vehicles unless 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.”

Stewart slammed the police department for suspending the officer, saying that Dixon and Griffin never ditched the gun during the two-mile chase, suggesting they were intending to use it.

He said the officer has had a “phenomenal start to a career” by taking eight guns off the street in his time on the force. The suspension, Stewart said, has left the officer wondering “where his next paycheck is coming from, and how he is going to feed his children, or pay his mortgage.”

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

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