NJ cop indicted on 1st-degree murder in road rage

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A New Jersey police detective has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the shooting of another driver in a road-rage incident.

An Anne Arundel County grand jury returned the indictment Friday against 40-year-old Joseph Walker of Mount Holly in the June 8 death of Joseph Harvey Jr. of Millersville.

The Capital of Annapolis first reported the indictment on Tuesday.

Walker, a sworn officer with the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey, will be arraigned Aug. 19. He had been released on bail on June 12. He had been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter immediately after the incident.

Hudson County prosecutors say Walker was suspended without pay following his arrest, and that status remains unchanged.

Authorities say Walker's minivan cut off a car being driven by Harvey. Harvey's passenger told police that Walker pointed a gun at them. The drivers got out on a ramp, and the passenger says he heard shots. Harvey died at a hospital.

Walker's lawyer, Patrick McAndrew, said a few days after the incident that Harvey initiated the fight and ignored repeated warnings from Walker, who identified himself as a police officer and displayed his badge.

"This family was victimized," McAndrew said then. "Mr. Harvey threatened to kill this family."

McAndrew could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

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