Grand Jury Declines To Indict Asbury Park Police After 2 Die In Crash

NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP, NJ — A grand jury voted this week not to file criminal charges against Asbury Park Police officers Samuel Griffeth and Scott Ritter, after two men died in a 2022 crash in Neptune Township after they fled from an attempted vehicle stop by police.

The men who died in the crash were Dishawn Bellamy, 32, and a 17-year-old male, both from Asbury Park.

Their deaths were investigated by the Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability and presented to New Jersey residents serving on the grand jury.

After hearing the testimony and evidence, the grand jury concluded its deliberations Oct. 16 and voted “no bill,” meaning the grand jury decided that no criminal charges should be filed against Griffeth and Ritter.

The investigation included video of the incident, interviews with witnesses, photographs, review of body-worn and police dashboard camera footage and autopsy results from the medical examiner.

At 7:16 p.m. on June 5, 2022, Officers Griffeth and Ritter responded to the area of Atkins Avenue and Boston Way in Asbury Park after hearing gunfire. As the officers responded, a Ford Explorer, driven by Bellamy, sped past Officer Ritter’s patrol vehicle. Officer Ritter recognized Bellamy, who was known to have an active arrest warrant for a charge of attempted murder.

Ritter radioed to Officer Griffeth to stop the vehicle. Griffeth then followed the Explorer, with Ritter following behind. Shortly thereafter, the Explorer took off at a high speed. The officers did not match the Explorer’s speed, but did have their emergency lights flashing and trailed the SUV as it left the scene. The Explorer drove less than a mile before Bellamy lost control of the vehicle while attempting a left turn, thereby rolling over and ultimately striking a home in Neptune Township.

The vehicle came to rest in a tree-lined area along the side of the home. Approximately 40 seconds elapsed from the time Griffeth radioed that the Explorer was not stopping until the vehicle crashed.

When Bellamy lost control of the Explorer, it was more than a block away from the police vehicles driven by officers Ritter and Griffeth. Police recovered two firearms near the crashed Explorer. As a result of the crash, the 17-year-old and Bellamy died. Two other occupants in the vehicle, a 15-year-old male from Asbury Park and a 25-year-old male from Neptune, exited the SUV and started running away. They were stopped by officers, without incident, after a short foot pursuit. Neither had significant injuries from the crash.

State law in New Jersey requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations anytime someone dies during an encounter with a law enforcement officer, or while in police custody. All findings must be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.