NEWARK, NJ — A jury found Newark Police Officer Jovanny Crespo guilty of all charges Wednesday.
Crespo was accused of fatally shooting one man and injuring another during a pursuit in January 2019.
He was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, weapons offenses and official misconduct.
The sentence is set for September 15. Crespo could face 30 years behind bars.
The jury reached its verdict after six days of deliberations that saw multiple delays: one juror was sick, other jurors had to be replaced, and all three alternates had to be replaced.
There were tears from about 20 of Crespo’s family and friends in the courtroom after the judge found him guilty of all charges and then the judge declared him a flight risk, which sent him to prison.
In January 2019, driver Gregory Griffin was pulled over for speeding. During the stop, an officer saw a gun in the car. Griffin fled, leading police on a high-speed chase. Crespo responded as backup.
Crespo could be seen on body-worn camera firing his weapon at the suspect’s car in three different locations. Crespo shot and killed Griffin and injured his passenger Andrew Dixon.
Watch Alice Gainer’s report
Prosecutors argued that he was ignorant of policy and procedure and was not justified in his use of deadly force, telling the jury that he did not note the danger as imminent in his own police report, only that the threat posed by the vehicle was that it was moving at a high rate of speed.
“Approximately four years ago, I stood in front of this microphone in awe at the actions I saw involving Officer Crespo. Even today, they are still hard to understand and hard to watch,” said Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens.
“It was all the evidence combined, but I don’t think we can stress enough the importance of the body-worn camera in this case,” said Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Alex Albu. “The only time you can use deadly force is if there is imminent danger, and the jury clearly found in this case that there was no imminent danger.”
“Ultimately, that’s what’s going to make our community safer, is for the people on the street, the community, to feel like they’re going to have an equal opportunity, especially in the situation where the officer is not operating within the law or regulation,” Stephens said.
Crespo’s defense attorney argued that he saved lives that night, with Crespo himself taking the stand in his own defense, maintaining that a gun was pointed at him.
“We remain steadfast in our position that there aren’t a couple of appellate issues in this case, numerous valid appellate issues that will ultimately succeed here,” said Crespo’s attorney, Patrick Toscano, Jr.. “For law enforcement officers to do what they do day in and day out and see a verdict like this, how could anyone expect them to continue what they do day in and day out, risk their lives?”
The Newark Department of Public Safety says Crespo, who had been suspended, was fired from his job with the Newark Police Division on Wednesday.
Alice Gainer
