No Charges For Officer After Man Fatally Crashed During Passaic Co. Chase

CLIFTON, NJ — A state grand jury voted Monday not to file charges against a Clifton officer involved in a 2019 police chase that turned fatal. A motorcyclist, who the officer pursued, died after crashing into a civilian vehicle.

A 2019 law requires to Attorney General's Officer to conduct investigations into deaths that occur during encounters with law enforcement. Officials must present all such investigations to a grand jury to determine whether the evidence supports an indictment.

Subscribe to Patch for local news updates to your inbox. (It's free): https://patch.com/subscribe

The June 17, 2019 incident put Clifton Police Officer John Ferraro under investigation for the death of Frank A. Lovato, 20, of Wyckoff.

Ferraro, in a marked police vehicle, attempted to pull over the operators of two motorcycles he suspected were stolen. When they refused to stop, Ferraro pursued them with his lights and siren on, according to the investigation.

The motorcyclists — one of whom was Lovato — ran through multiple red lights in a commercial district and traveled up to 100 mph during the 10-minute chase, authorities said. Lovato ultimately sped through a red light at Van Houten Avenue and Broad Street, striking the passenger-side door of a Mercedes sedan that had the right of way, the investigation concluded.

The violent impact flung Lovato into the road and wrecked the motorcycle. Police and medical personnel rendered first aid, but officials pronounced Lovato dead at the scene at 2:15 a.m.

The driver and passenger of the Mercedes sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The second motorcyclist got away.

The investigation included review of video footage and radio transmissions, interviews with witnesses and autopsy results from the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.

Thanks for reading. Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter and follow the Wayne Patch Facebook Page.