The victim of a carjacking on Summer and 3rd Avenues identified Dedeaux as the armed man who carjacked him for his 2011 Jaguar. The incident occurred several hours prior to the carjacking of the Newark Police Lieutenant.

In the second carjacking, Dedeaux was traveling in a white BMW and bumped the victim from behind as he did in the case involving the police lieutenant.

Defendant Dedeaux is being charged with carjacking and weapons offenses in the second incident. Those charges will be added to the charges filed in the case involving the police lieutenant. In that case Dedeaux was charged with conspiracy, robbery and weapons offenses.

“It has always been a theory in the law enforcement community that the recent carjackings in the city were the work of the same group of perpetrators working in concert. Today the suspect who attempted to carjack an off-duty Newark Police Lieutenant on September 20 has been charged with another carjacking that occurred on the same day. I have the utmost confidence in the Carjacking Task Force to see this investigation through thoroughly to its conclusion,” said Police Director Samuel DeMaio.

These are accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they plead guilty or are found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 1:13 AM today an off-duty Newark Police Officer was stopped at a red light in his personal vehicle in the vicinity of Charlton Street and Springfield Avenue when he was bumped from behind by two men. When he stepped out the car to inspect the damage, a gun was pulled on the officer. The suspect gained control of the officer’s vehicle.

The officer responded by drawing his service weapon and announcing he was a police officer. There was an exchange of gunfire. After the exchange of gunfire, the suspect fled in officer’s vehicle. A short time later, a male suffering from a gun shot wound was dropped off at Beth Israel Hospital, where he underwent surgery. His condition is unknown at this time. The officer did not sustain any gun shot injuries.

The suspect has been identified as Royce Dedeaux, 24. He has addresses in both Irvington and Newark. He was arrested and charged with robbery, weapons offenses and conspiracy.

“The Newark Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division in conjunction with that of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is launching an extensive investigation into the circumstances that led to a shooting involving an off-duty police officer early this morning. As is our protocol, we will not comment further pending the outcome of this investigation,” said Newark Police Director DeMaio.

These are accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they plead guilty or are found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The investigation is active and ongoing. Additional information will be released when it becomes available.