Three men allegedly involved in the shooting an undercover police officer in Garfield NJ pleaded not guilty to various criminal charges.
The shooting happened last year in Garfield, New Jersey. According to Bergen County prosecutors, the three suspects planned to rob the undercover officer during an arranged drug sale. The suspects reportedly brought a bag of oregano with them when they showed up at a Marshalls department store in Garfield.
Once the undercover cop arrived, one of the suspects walked toward his vehicle and demanded that he hand over money. A violent struggle followed, prompting other police officers to approach the vehicle.
At some point during the altercation, the suspect allegedly used a handgun and shot the undercover officer in his hip and ankle.
After allegedly shooting the handgun, the suspect reportedly pointed the weapon at the other police officers. The officers responded by shooting the suspect, who suffered non-fatal injuries.
Thankfully, the undercover officer did not die as a result of his gunshot wounds.
The 26-year-old suspect was placed under arrest and charged with first degree attempted murder. Meanwhile, the other two suspects were placed under arrest and charged with robbery and weapons offenses.
The suspects live in Garfield, Clifton, and Passaic. They recently appeared in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack NJ and pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Now the suspects are scheduled to return to Bergen County Superior Court in August for a status conference.
The suspect who has been charged with attempted murder is currently housed in New Jersey State Prison on a $2 million bail amount. According to officials, he is being held in state prison due to a parole violation.
The other two suspects in the case are being housed at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack New Jersey in lieu of separate $550,000 bail amounts.
For more information about this case, see the NJ.com article entitled “Three Plead Not Guilty in Attempted Robbery of Undercover Cop, Report Says.”