TRENTON, NJ — On Monday, Jan. 8, the Attorney General’s Office released the identity of the driver who died in a police-involved shooting on the Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge, on Thursday, Dec. 28. The decedent has been identified as Kevin Harlfinger, 40, of Perth Amboy.
According to the preliminary investigation, officers from the Cranford Police Department were pursuing a stolen vehicle when it crashed in the area of a southbound exit on the Garden State Parkway. After the crash, the driver of the vehicle, Harlfinger, exchanged gunfire with Cranford Police Officers Christopher Folinusz and Ryan McSharry. Harlfinger was pronounced deceased at the scene on Friday, Dec. 29, at approximately 12:04 a.m. A firearm was recovered near Harlfinger. Folinusz sustained a non-fatal gunshot wound, was treated at a hospital and later released.
A 2019 law, N.J.S. § 52:17B-107(a)(2), requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.
The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.