Grand jury declines to charge Newark officer in 2024 police shooting
Officer Alexander Ferreira fired two shots at the driver of a reported stolen Porsche during an August 2024 encounter in Newark.
A state grand jury has declined to bring criminal charges against a Newark police officer who shot and seriously injured a man during an encounter involving a vehicle reported stolen in August 2024, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office announced Tuesday.
Officer Alexander Ferreira fired two shots at the driver of a Porsche Macan on Aug. 12, 2024, during an encounter in which another officer struggled with the driver as the vehicle reversed, according to investigators.
The incident began around 8:34 p.m. on Clinton Place near Hawthorne Avenue, where officers spotted the parked Porsche and discovered it had been reported stolen.
Police initially detained a man sitting in the passenger seat. While officers were near their patrol vehicle with the handcuffed passenger, another man emerged from a nearby convenience store, entered the Porsche and moved into the driver’s seat, investigators said.
Officers returned to the Porsche and attempted to remove the driver. Ferreira’s partner struggled with the man as the vehicle reversed, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Ferreira repeatedly shouted for his partner to back away. As the other officer disengaged, the Porsche accelerated forward, and Ferreira fired twice at nearly the same time, striking the driver, investigators said.
The Porsche struck the patrol vehicle before accelerating across an intersection, crashing into a brick building and hitting two parked, unoccupied vehicles.
Officers provided medical aid to the driver, who was taken to University Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Attorney General’s Office reviewed body camera footage, surveillance video, police radio transmissions, medical records and witness interviews.
The grand jury concluded its deliberations Monday and voted not to bring criminal charges against Ferreira.
New Jersey law requires the Attorney General’s Office to investigate deaths and certain serious bodily injuries during police encounters and present those investigations to a grand jury for consideration of criminal charges.
