Officials: New Jersey grand jury indicts in fatal police shooting after parking lot crash

WOODBRIDGE, N.J. (AP) — State authorities say no charges will be filed against police officers in a shootout with a man on a New Jersey highway last year that left a man dead and an officer injured.

The New Jersey attorney general’s office said Friday that a state grand jury has voted not to indict the death of Kevin Harlfinger, 40, of Perth Amboy, during a Dec. 28 encounter with Cranford police on the Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge.

Authorities said officers were chasing a stolen car that crashed near Exit 131 in the southbound lanes of the parkway, and Harlfinger exchanged gunfire with officers and was killed. One of the officers was treated at the hospital for a gunshot wound.

A firearm was recovered from Harlfinger and shell casings were recovered at the scene, authorities said.

Cranford Police Chief Ryan Greco thanked investigators and first responders on Facebook after the decision. He said officers like the two involved in the shooting face “dangerous split-second situations” every day that could lead to their deaths, but “thankfully, in this situation, the officers were allowed to go home to their families “.