Charles Sharp III of Mantua, NJ, reportedly shot, killed by officer Salvatore Oldrati without warning
A police officer who fatally shot a homeowner who had called 911 to report intruders outside his southern New Jersey home has been indicted on a manslaughter charge.
The count against Mantua Township Police Officer Salvatore Oldrati was handed up Tuesday by a state grand jury and was made public Wednesday night. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The charge stems from the Sept. 14, 2021, death of Charles Sharp III, 49, who called 911 around 1:30 a.m. to report he had spotted two burglars in his backyard and that one of them had a handgun. Oldrati and another Mantua officer, Cpl. Robert Layton, soon responded to the home in different vehicles.
Sharp, who had remained on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, was standing in his front yard when the officers arrived. Layton got their first, with Oldrati arriving a short time later.
As Oldrati got out of his police vehicle, Layton yelled, “He’s got a handgun on him, right there,” the attorney general’s office said in a press release. Oldrati then fired his service weapon multiple times, hitting Sharp several times. Sharp was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead there a short time later.
Layton did not discharge his service weapon, authorities said, and neither he nor Oldrati were injured. A replica .45-caliber firearm was recovered near Sharp, authorities said.