A 24-year-old man was found not guilty of shooting an off-duty officer and two friends outside an Elizabeth nightclub during an attempted robbery.
Taquan Ward, 24, was acquitted Monday of attempted murder, as well as three counts of first-degree robbery and a single count of witness tampering.
It was approximately 1:45 a.m. on December 2, 2013 when the shooting victim, an off-duty officer with the South Plainfield Police Department, was leaving the Jersey Girls nightclub on Bayway in Elizabeth with two friends, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor John Esmerado, who is prosecuting the case.
Ward allegedly approached the group and attempted to rob the men at gunpoint, and when the off-duty officer identified himself as a police officer, Ward started shooting, Esmerado said.
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A brief but intense exchange of gunfire between the officer and Ward ensued. The officer was shot multiple times and rushed to a local hospital for treatment, and a nearly three-week investigation by the Elizabeth Police Department and the Prosecutor’s Office followed, through which Ward was identified as a suspect, located, and arrested in Newark.