Newark Cop Convicted For Fatally Shooting Man Outside Union Bar

UNION, NJ — The off-duty Newark Police Officer who fatally shot a Piscataway man outside of a Union County bar in May 2016 has been convicted of reckless manslaughter, acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan announced.

A jury deliberated for about 21 hours over six days before returning the verdict against Joseph Macchia, 37 in connection of the death of 37-year-old Michael Gaffney of Piscataway. Macchia could face 5 to 10 years in state prison on the second-degree crime.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, July 27.

A physical fight between Gaffney and Macchia broke out at Paddy's Place, a bar on the 900 block of Rosemont Avenue in Union early on May 13, 2016, according to an investigation by the Prosecutor's Office's Special Prosecutions Unit and Homicide Task Force, the Union County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Unit, the Union County Police Department Ballistics Unit, and the Union Township Police Department.

After several minutes, Macchia and Gaffney separated from one another. However, several minutes later, they reengaged in a second physical altercation.

During the course of that second altercation, Macchia fired his service weapon multiple times, fatally shooting Gaffney, according to Park.

Gaffney was pronounced dead outside of the bar around 1 a.m. on May 13, 2016.

Macchia had turned himself into authorities and bail was set at $100,000.

As a result of the incident, friends of Gaffney spoke out and created a petition to make it illegal for off-duty police officers to carry service weapons into any bar or establishment where they intend to consume alcohol. The petition has more than 6,000 signatures.

“This case marked a prime example of the tragic and senseless consequences that often arise when alcohol and firearms align,” Monahan said. “We feel that justice was served with the verdict reached by the jury yesterday, and we sincerely thank the jurors for their long period of service and careful consideration of the facts.”

“Police officers swear a solemn oath to uphold the law and to protect and serve the public, but in this case, an officer took the law into his own hands and recklessly ended a life,” First Assistant Prosecutor Albert Cernadas Jr. said.

• See Related: Newark Cop Identified, Indicted For Fatally Shooting Man Outside of Union Bar

(Image via change.org)

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