New Haven police officer accused in fatal Las Vegas crash returning to Connecticut
New Haven Officer Robert Ferraro, who was charged with causing a drunken driving crash in Las Vegas that killed fellow officer Joshua Castellano, has been granted permission to return to Connecticut, his lawyer said Thursday.
Attorney Gabriel L. Grasso said after his client’s latest court appearance that Ferraro will be allowed to travel back and forth to Las Vegas for court. He is not allowed to drive, his passport will be taken from him and he will have to undergo random tests to prove he isn’t drinking, Grasso said.
“He was allowed to be taken off of house arrest so he can travel to Connecticut and await the adjudication of his case at home,” he said.
Grasso said the deadly crash was devastating for his client, who he said was close friends with Castellano for years.
“No one disputes that this case is a horrible tragedy, it really is,” Grasso said. “They are both excellent officers and it is a huge, huge, devastating loss that is being felt. Regardless of what ends up happening in this case, it is a huge loss for everyone — obviously the Castellano family — but it is just devastating for Robert Ferraro to have lost his best friend.”
“If you go to the New Haven Police Department and ask, they’ll tell you they were always together,” Grasso said. “He lost a brother.”
They and the other New Haven officers involved in the crash, Matthew Borges and John Truhart, were close since they attended the police academy together and were on an annual trip that got interrupted by COVID-19 last year, he said.
“They were just here for the weekend to be tourists in Las Vegas,” Grasso said.
The crash happened shortly before 4 a.m. Friday, Sept. 17. Ferraro was driving a luxury SUV with his three fellow officers and two women from Texas when he lost control. The 2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan struck a car in a private driveway before rolling over, throwing Castellano.
Everyone else, including the driver of the car that was struck, suffered minor injuries, police said —what Grasso described as mostly cuts and scrapes. Cuts on Ferraro’s face were visible in pictures taken in court.
Officers at the scene suspected Ferraro was impaired.
Ferraro, 34, was in court Thursday for a status check of the criminal charges against him. Police said they charged him with reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol and/or a controlled or prohibited substance resulting in death, both felonies.
He posted bail after a bail hearing Saturday, but remained in custody while the details of his house arrest were worked out. In the end, authorities decided to take him off house arrest, which must be done in state, let him go back to Connecticut and have him check in with them once a week. He also has to submit to periodic, random alcohol tests to allow authorities to determine if he had been drinking, Grasso said.
Ferraro is on leave from the New Haven Police Department while it conducts an internal investigation.
There will be an Oct. 7 check in with court to make sure Ferraro is abiding by the rules, the lawyer said. After that, his next court date is in January.
If found guilty, Ferraro faces a possible 2-20 years in prison, Grasso said.
Grasso is a high-profile lawyer in Las Vegas, perhaps best known for being on the defense team of O.J. Simpson after his arrest in a casino hotel robbery. The former NFL star, who was acquitted of the double murder of his ex-wife and her friend more than a decade earlier, was found guilty of the 2007 memorabilia robbery and kidnapping.
Hours after Grasso spoke, hundreds of mourners were expected to stream into the West Haven Funeral Home for Castellano’s wake. The wake is from 4-8 p.m.
A Mass of Christian Burial is planned for 10 a.m. Friday at St. Mary’s Church, 5 Hillside Ave., New Haven, with burial to follow at Grove Street Cemetery.
Christine Dempsey may be reached at cdempsey@courant.com.
