No Criminal Charges For Butler Policeman Involved In Shooting

Butler Patrolman Jorge Reyes will not be charged in the shooting of Dylan Howard. Morris County Prosecutor Frederic M. Knapp announced late this evening that a Morris County Grand Jury voted against filing any criminal charges against the patrolman.

According to official reports, Officer Reyes fired multiple rounds at Dylan Howard, 23, in a bedroom at 3 Belleview Terrace during an escalating confrontation earlier this year, on March 31, 2016. Reyes reported he and three of his fellow officers had responded to two 911 calls that evening alerting them of a suspicious figure prowling near the location, at 14 West Belleview Avenue.

The callers in official reports described a man allegedly dressed up as an elderly woman, covered up in a scarf, possibly carrying a purse, and hobbling along with a cane. They found the get-up of the suspicious individual a particularly strange one for 70-degree weather.

The four officers, Lt. Scott Ricker, Patrolman Jorge Reyes, Patrolman Kyle Fontanazza, and Patrolman Scott Sinopoli, arrived, according to official statements, at 3 Belleview Terrace with the suspicion that the prowler on West Bellevue Avenue would be an individual they had been searching for earlier in the day, for an alleged purse snatch near Gleaners Thrift Shop at the Methodist Church on Bartholdi Avenue in Butler. They believed that the man dressed up as a woman reportedly on Belleview Avenue would be Dylan Howard, in a disguise and attempting to get into his grandparents' home at 3 Belleview Terrace.

In search of Dylan Howard, who fled from the scene of the purse theft earlier in the day, Officer Reyes reported that he and his fellow policemen had gone to 3 Belleview Terrace. The officers did not find their suspect, but according to his grandmother, Howard had been to the thrift shop earlier in the day. She also said her grandson had asked her for money but she refused to give him any.

The officers who responded to the 911 calls said in official reports that they knocked on the door of 3 Belleview Terrace, entered the home, and spotting Howard in the dining room/living area, chased him down a hallway and to a bedroom. Officer Reyes reported yelling multiple warnings to Howard, to first stop fleeing, and then once in the bedroom, to show his hands.

According to the Patrolman Reyes, Howard reached for what appeared to be a rifle or a shotgun, pointed the gun at him, and moved his finger toward the trigger. At this point, Officer Reyes stated he fired at Howard four times as he backed away, until the gun was no longer pointed at him and Howard fell to the floor. The officers secured the weapon Howard was holding. Howard was flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Paterson for treatment.

Dylan Howard has been charged with various crimes related to this incident including Burglary and Theft, Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, Certain Persons Not to Have Weapons, Aggravated Assault by Pointing a Firearm at a Law Enforcement Officer, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.