A Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced ex-Newark cop Jovanny Crespo to consecutive prison sentences totaling 27 years in prison for shooting two men during a frenzied car chase through the city’s Central Ward in January 2019 that left one man dead and wounded the other.
Citing the need to deter police officers from what he called a “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality, Judge Michael L. Ravin sentenced Crespo to 20 years for fatally shooting the driver in the car chase, Gregory Griffin and another seven years for wounding the passenger Andrew J. Dixon, both of Newark. The judge additionally sentenced Crespo to two, six-year sentences on two counts of official misconduct, which will run concurrently.
Sample HTML block
Crespo sunk back into his chair and members of his family burst into a tears when the judge advised the defendant that he won’t be eligible for parole for another 22 years and 11 months.
Crespo’s attorney, Isaac Wright Jr., had asked for leniency, telling the judge that Crespo, a patrolman, had less than two years on the job and had been poorly trained. Wright tried to convince the judge that Crespo’s superiors should have called him off the chase on the night of Jan. 28, 2019.
“He was a rookie,” Wright told the judge, adding that his partner behind the wheel of the patrol car also had less than two years on the job. “Two rookies in the car in a high-speed chase with an individual with a gun. Why would policy allow two kids to go out and engage in a high-speed chase?” Wright asked.
The prosecutor, Alexander Albu, countered that Crespo spent more than six months training at the police academy where he was schooled on the proper use of deadly force. Ravin agreed.
“The court is not swayed that he was young and inexperienced,” Ravin said. “He was extensively trained.” The sentence was only slightly less than the 33 years than Albu has asked for. Ravin called the five-minute chase through Newark that left Griffin dead and Dixon wounded, “an abhorrent abuse of police power.”
Earlier, Crespo broke down in tears as his mother, Aida, and sister, Evalise, begged the judge for leniency.
“I beg you please for mercy,” his mother said to the judge. “If not for me, then for the kids back there,” she said, pointing to Crespo’s young children in the courtroom.
Crespo, 31, then stood up, and briefly apologized to the families of the victims who were seated on the other side of the courtroom. “I want to apologize for the event that occurred,” he said. “I took a chance at a job...the jury spoke...I want to apologize to everybody.”
After weighing the aggravating and mitigating factors, the judge said there was an “exorbitant need” to deter other police officers from resorting to unjustifiable deadly force.
Crespo was riding shotgun with his partner, Eric Ortiz, on the night of Jan. 28, 2019 when a call came in to be on the lookout for a Chrysler 300 with two men armed with a gun that moments before had fled a traffic stop by another Newark police officer.
Video of the ensuing five-minute chase was recorded on police dashboard and body cameras. During the chase, Crespo jumped out of his patrol car at three locations and opened fire, even though his partner is repeatedly heard on the video telling him to calm down.
At the last stop, on Irving Turner Boulevard, Crespo shot and killed the driver, 46-year-old Gregory C. Griffin, and wounded the passenger, Andrew J. Dixon, 35. Griffin died at the scene; Dixon was shot in the face and recovered, but later died in an auto accident before Crespo went to trial.
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office investigation centered on guidelines regarding pursuit and the use of deadly force. The Attorney General’s guidelines forbid shooting at a moving vehicle unless as a last resort to prevent death or serious injury to the officer or another person. An Essex County Grand Jury subsequently indicted Crespo for aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault, unlawful weapons possession and official misconduct.
Crespo’s trial in Essex County began in May 2023 and lasted 10 weeks.
At trial, Albu, the prosecutor, argued that although there was a gun, the Chrysler was fleeing police and posed no “imminent danger” to Crespo or anyone else. Crespo took the witness stand and testified that he saw a gun pointed at him each time he opened fire and was acting in self-defense. Albu also argued that it was unlikely that Crespo saw a gun pointed at him because it was dark and the windows of the Chrysler 300 were tinted. Police recovered a handgun from the floor of the car.
After deliberating for six days, the jury convicted Crespo of all six counts.
Crespo has been held in the Middlesex County Jail since his conviction in July 2023. But his sentencing was delayed to allow him to begin the appeal process with a new attorney, Isaac Wright Jr.
In December, Crespo asked Judge Ravin to set aside his conviction, arguing that the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office lacked jurisdiction to investigate the case. Crespo based that argument on a change in state law that took effect on Jan. 30, 2019 - a mere two days after the incident – that required the state Attorney General’s Office to investigate all fatal police shootings and civilian deaths while in custody.
In addition, the new law requires that whenever a police officer is indicted for causing a person’s death, the case should be subject to a change of venue and moved out of the county where the incident occurred. Crespo argued that the new law should be applied to his case retroactively.
Judge Ravin rejected the argument in a ruling he delivered in February. The judge said the statute clearly stated the law would take affect on Jan. 30 – and not a day before. Crespo is appealing that decision as well as other trial issues, his attorney said.
Although friends and family of Griffin and Dixon attended the sentencing, none of them chose to address the court. But in the hallway afterward, Griffin’s 23-year-old son, Ahmad, said he was satisfied. “Justice is served,” he said.
At a news conference afterward, Essex County Prosecutor Ted Stephens said the jury verdict rejected Crespo’s argument the he was just doing his job when she shot the two men as they fled from police. Stephens said the case should also restore public confidence that police officers will be brought to justice when they use unjustifiable force.
“There will be ramifications,” Stephens said.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Richard Cowen may be reached at rcowen@njadvancemedia.com.
