By Chris Sheldon
nj.com
NEWARK, N.J. — Body-worn camera footage released Friday evening showed an incident in Newark where a police officer shot a man who tried to flee in a stolen car during a traffic stop.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 12, two Newark Police officers saw car parked on Clinton Place near Hawthorne Avenue in the city, determined that it was stolen and moved their patrol car in front of the vehicle so they could speak with the person inside, according to a release from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, which is investigating the incident.
The officers got out of their car, walked up to the stolen vehicle, saw a man sitting in the passenger seat and ordered him to get out, which he did, the office said. One of the officers, Alexander Ferreira, then handcuffed and escorted the man to the area of his parked police vehicle.
Moments later, another man came out of a nearby convenience store, got into the stolen car through its passenger side door and moved into the driver’s seat, investigators said. Ferreira and his partner left the handcuffed passenger next to the patrol vehicle and immediately returned to the other car and tried to remove the man who had just entered it.
The ordered the man to stop, but he did not comply. Ferreira went back to the cruiser, placed the handcuffed man its back seat and ran back to front driver’s side of the stolen car, authorities said. Ferreira’s partner then got into a struggle with driver, who placed the car into gear and reversed, which caused the officer to move backward from the vehicle.
The car then accelerated forward and Ferriera fired two rounds from his duty firearm, which struck the driver, the office said.
The vehicle struck the patrol car and stopped momentarily before accelerating forward at a high rate of speed, crossing the intersection. It crashed into a brick building and careened into a two parked, unoccupied cars, officials said.
Ferreira and his partner provided medical aid to the driver, who was not identified, and he was taken to University Hospital. He was treated for life-threatening injuries, but was expected to survive, investigators said.
No charges were announced Friday as the shooting was still under investigation by the office.
Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda called the release of the footage a “prudent step in the investigative process that aligns with the Newark Police Division’s commitment to serving our community with the utmost transparency.”
“We are confident that the Office of Attorney General (Matthew) Platkin will conduct a thorough and judicious investigation of this incident,” Miranda said. “We also thank our conscientious community members for their willingness to come forward to cooperate with the investigation.”
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