New Haven’s police chief has moved to fire an officer who has pleaded guilty to causing a colleague’s death by driving drunk.
The officer, Robert Ferraro, pleaded gulty in Nevada Tuesday to driving under the influence resulting in death.
The charge stems from a September 2021 incident in which four NHPD friends were visiting Las Vegas and their car crashed, killing 35-year-old Officer Joshua Castellano.
Police charged Ferraro, a 2015 academy classmate of Castellano, with the fatal DUI charge as well as with reckless driving. Ferraro agreed to a plea deal in which the latter charge was dropped. He pleaded guilty to the other charge, a Category B felony, during a remote hearing on Tuesday.
That charge carries a sentence of between two and 20 years. Ferraro will almost certainly spend time in prison, said Angel Garcia, who works in the office of Ferraro’s attorney, Gabriel L. Grasso.
“They don’t mess around in terms of DUI in Nevada. It’s serious charges here,” Garcia said, pointing to a case in which a judge sentenced Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs to three years in prison on the same charge.
Ferraro had been on administrative leave from his New Haven job pending his plea.
After his plea, New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson initiated the process of removing Ferraro from the force. Jacobson said a Loudermill hearing, the first step before the recommendation proceeds to the Board of Police Commissioners, will probably be scheduled within the next two weeks.
This is so tragic but this (former) officer has already been being paid for 2 years without working while he got ready to plead guilty. You can’t drive drunk, drive recklessly, cause someone’s death and not pay a heavy price. He needs to go to prison.