NEW JERSEY — A New Jersey jury has reached a verdict in the case of a former Newark police officer facing manslaughter charges for shooting and killing a man fleeing a traffic stop in 2019.
Jovanny Crespo was on trial and faced multiple charges, including aggravated murder, aggravated assault, and two counts each of second-degree possession of a weapon with an unlawful purpose and official misconduct.
The jury found Crespo guilty on multiple charges Wednesday. Officials were expected to announce more details at a news conference in the afternoon.
On May 21, 2019, prosecutors said that Crespo acted in a “criminal” manner and that his actions were not in keeping with his training.
“He showed reckless disregard for human life by firing at a moving vehicle, a vehicle that had tinted windows,” Acting Essex County Attorney Stephens said at the time.
In late January 2019, prosecutors said a preliminary investigation indicated Newark police attempted to pull over a vehicle, but the driver failed to stop, and “a police officer fired shots at three separate locations.”
Two Newark men in the car, Andrew Dixon, 35, and Gregory Griffin, 46, were shot. Griffin died the next day.
A loaded semi-automatic pistol was found in the vehicle.
Prosecutors said Crespo was not the original officer who stopped traffic in the area of Clinton Avenue and Thomas Street, but rather a female officer. However, when Griffin allegedly fled the stop, she told him over the radio that he was fleeing and that she saw a firearm, leading to a chase involving numerous police cars, prosecutors say.
Crespo fired at the fleeing car in three separate locations, according to prosecutors. The vehicle then stopped in the area of Irvine Turner Boulevard near Kinney Street.
No police officers were injured, prosecutors said, adding that no other police officers fired their weapons.
According to prosecutors, this is the first fatal shooting involving police resulting in an indictment in Essex County in recent memory.
Prosecutors released body camera and dash cam video, as well as dispatch audio related to the chase and police shooting.
In Crespo’s body camera video footage, someone, presumably Crespo, can be heard telling the other officer in the police car at one point: “I think I shot him. I saw a gun. He pointed a gun at me.” once he enters the car after shooting at the vehicle involved in the chase.
Body camera video shows Crespo fired at the car three different times, the last time at near point-blank range.
Later, on body cam video, after the chase, Crespo tells other police officers that he shot the two men.
2023-07-05 22:17:01
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