The son of the man killed by Newark patrolman Jovanny Crespo during a wild car chase in 2019 cannot sue the city for damages because he didn’t file his tort claims notice on time, an appellate court has ruled for the second time.
Ahmaad Griffin had 90 days to notify the City of Newark of his intention to seek damages after his father, Gregory Griffin, and another man, Andrew Dixon, were shot by Crespo on Jan. 28, 2019, the appellate court ruled.
Gregory Griffin died the next day. The appellate court ruled Griffin’s notification that he intended to sue, filed on May 23, 2019, was 115 days after the shooting and past the deadline.
In his lawsuit, Ahmaad Griffin claimed he knew almost nothing about the circumstances of his father’s death in the immediate aftermath of the shooting — not even the name of the cop who was suspected of shooting him.
He claimed the 90-day clock should not have started ticking until Feb. 26, 2019, when the Newark Police Department announced it had suspended the officer involved, although it did not name him, according to the ruling.
The appellate court disagreed, ruling Griffin and his heirs knew immediately after the shooting that he’d been killed by the police, and didn’t need to know the name of the officer to file a basic tort claim, the court said.
Crespo was indicted on May 21, 2019, on charges of aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault and weapons possession. Griffin filed his tort claim notice two days later — but the appellate court said that was too late.
Griffin won twice at the trial court level, only to have both of those decisions reversed by the appellate court. In the latest ruling, the appellate court rejected Griffin’s bid to include Dixon’s tort claim, which was filed on time in April 2019, to bolster his case.
The appellate judges said they did not find “support for the proposition that a party who does not attempt to file a notice of claim within the statutory period may establish extraordinary circumstances based on the timely filing of a notice of claim by another party injured in the same incident.”
The deadly chase through Newark’s Central Ward began when a police officer stopped a car driven by Gregory Griffin with Dixon, who was armed with a gun, in the passenger seat. Griffin took off and police gave chase.
Body-worn cameras showed Crespo jumping out of his patrol car at three locations to open fire at the fleeing vehicle.
Crespo shot Griffin and Dixon as the vehicle rolled to a stop on Irving Turner Boulevard. Griffin died the next day, while Dixon, who initially survived a bullet to the face, filed a tort claims notice in April 2019.
Dixon died in a car accident in 2021. That same year, Griffin filed a motion to include Dixon’s timely tort claim to his case, citing “extraordinary circumstances.”
The appellate court rejected that argument in this week’s ruling. Crespo is serving 27 years in prison after being convicted last year on all counts.
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Richard Cowen may be reached at rcowen@njadvancemedia.com.