New Haven cop accused in fatal Vegas crash in talks with high-profile lawyer
The case of New Haven Police Officer Robert Ferraro, charged with causing the crash that killed a fellow officer in Las Vegas, was continued until Thursday, according to court records.
Ferraro, 34, appeared in court in Las Vegas on Tuesday on charges of reckless driving and driving while under the influence of alcohol resulting in death, both felonies. Ferraro is accused of causing the crash that killed fellow officer Joshua Castellano, 35, when they and two other officers were in Las Vegas on Sept. 17.
In court Tuesday, the hearing was delayed after Ferraro’s family met with high-profile Las Vegas lawyer Gabriel Grasso. Grasso told the local TV station 8Newsnow that he had not yet been retained in the case. His name appears crossed out in court records.
Grasso, known in Las Vegas for taking high-profile cases, represented O.J. Simpson in the 2007 sports memorabilia case in which Simpson was convicted of armed robbery.
Ferraro posted $100,000 bail after a Saturday bond hearing but remained in custody Tuesday waiting for approval to be fitted with an electronic monitor. In the meantime, he was in custody at the Clark County Detention Center, said Leonardo San Martin, a jail support technician.
The process of qualifying for ankle bracelets and house arrest can take seven to 10 days, San Martin said.
Ferraro was arrested Friday after the fatal accident, Las Vegas Metropolitan police said. According to a department release, shortly before 4 a.m. Friday, Ferraro was driving a 2020 Rolls-royce Cullinan SUV with three other officers and two Texas women “at a high rate of
speed” when he lost control of the vehicle. He struck a Ford Mustang that was in a private driveway, then flipped, throwing Castellano from the vehicle. The SUV landed on its wheels as debris damaged a nearby parked car, police said.
Castellano, who had been on the New Haven police force seven years, was taken to the hospital,
where he died. Services are scheduled for later this week. Everyone else in the SUV, including New Haven officers Matthew Borges and John Truhart, had minor injuries, police said.