Nevada judge sentences Connecticut police officer to prison for fatal DUI crash that killed colleague
A Nevada judge sentenced a former New Haven, Connecticut police officer to at least two years in prison on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to a deadly DUI crash in Las Vegas that resulted in the death of a fellow officer.
FOX 5 in Las Vegas reported that Clark County District Judge Susan Johnson sentenced 37-year-old Robert Ferraro, to two to five years in prison for DUI resulting in death.
Ferraro was originally charged with DUI resulting in death and reckless driving, though the lesser charge was dropped when he agreed to plead guilty on June 21, 2023.
Police received a 911 call at about 4 a.m. on Sept. 17, 2021, of a two-vehicle crash near the intersection of W. Spring Mountain Road and S. Decatur Boulevard.
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The caller reported that a vehicle struck a building, and an occupant was ejected.
When officers arrived, they spoke with Ferraro, the driver of a Rolls-Royce involved in the crash. Police reported that Ferraro had "watery eyes and a strong odor" of alcohol on his breath, adding that he refused to submit to a field sobriety test. He was transported to the Clark County Detention Center where police obtained a search warrant to draw his blood.
An investigation determined the Rolls-Royce had Ferraro, a six-year member of the New Haven Police Department at the time, behind the wheel. Also in the luxury vehicle were three other police officers and two women.
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The vehicle reportedly lost control and struck an occupied vehicle in a private driveway before continuing along the road striking utility poles, palm trees and a fire hydrant, FOX 5 reported.
The Rolls-Royce went airborne at one point, flipped over and ended up settling upright after New Haven Police officer Joshua Castellano, 35, was ejected from the vehicle.
Castellano was transported to an area hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
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The station reported that investigators obtained search warrants to obtain the vehicle’s crash data recorder, deployed airbags, papers, personal effects that would establish ownership and occupancy of the vehicle, GPS devices, personal electronic devices and biological samples, prints and fluids.
Detectives also found a red pill on the passenger floorboard.
Investigators also used video from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Fusion Watch Center, showing the Rolls-Royce crossing over Decatur before the crash.
The station reported that a police report explained the video showed the vehicle reaching the intersection at ahigh speed before bottoming out and sending sparks flying from the undercarriage.
Police added that none of the occupants in the Rolls-Royce were wearing seatbelts.
FOX 5 said Chief Karl Jacobson of the New Haven Police Department said Ferraro resigned last year.