ELIZABETH — A man accused of shooting an off-duty police officer 13 times during an attempted robbery of the officer and two friends outside an Elizabeth nightclub has been found not guilty of all charges.
A jury on Monday acquitted Taquan Ward, 24, of attempted murder, as well as three counts of first-degree robbery and a single count of witness tampering.
Ward had been charged with the Dec. 2, 2013 shooting of then-South Plainfield police officer Ahmad Stuckey outside the Jersey Girls nightclub on Bayway Avenue.
Stuckey resigned from the South Plainfield Police Department as a result of injuries suffered in the shooting.
Ward’s lawyers, Jessica Hittelman and Dino Bjelopoljak, both of the Public Defender’s Office, told jurors that police had arrested the wrong man.
Hittelman, in her opening argument, said Ward was an innocent bystander who was wounded, and said he did not have a gun on the night of the shooting.
Union County Assistant Prosecutor John Esmerado, had argued that the case came down to the identification of Ward as the shooter.
Authorities said on the night of the shooting, Stuckey and two friends were walking out of the night club at about 1:40 a.m and one of the friends felt somebody tap his pants pocket and heard a man say “give me that.”
The friend, Terrell Flowers, saw a man holding a gun. When Flowers put up his hands, Stuckey called out that he was a police officer, and pulled out his service weapon.
At that point the robber fired at Stuckey, who returned fire, police said. Ward suffered a single gunshot wound to the leg.
Stuckey testified at the trial that he identified Ward as the shooter, picking him out from a photo array that investigators showed him.
Ward was arrested about three weeks after the shooting. He had been held on bail since his arrest.
Union County Prosecutor Grace Park, when asked for a comment, expressed disappointment about the verdict.
“While we respect the jury’s decision in this matter, we are disappointed in the verdict because we fully believe that the evidence supported the charges,” Park said.
Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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