Suffering Continues Seven Years Later for Newark Man Shot by Off-Duty Police Officer after a Carjacking Attempt

But what happened next would change the life of the young Black man – then just 20 years old –forever.

“I was walking from a girl’s house who I was dating and I saw this car running with no one inside – a white BMW convertible – and where I needed to go was a 15-minute ride,” Bryant said. “I was in a hurry and I didn’t want to walk. So, I jumped in the car. I just wanted to hurry up and get where I needed to be.”

But Bryant’s ride would be short-lived. He was spotted by an off-duty police officer who, as he recalled, pursued him on foot. Things happened quickly after that he said and with tragic results.

“He came towards the car on the driver’s side and told me to put the car in park,” he said. “I tried to get to the gear shift to do what he said. But I didn’t do it fast enough. The car was still moving – and then I felt this pain in my back. I had been shot.”

Attorney Jarrett Adams, PLLC, who has offices in Milwaukee, Chicago and New York City, said he took the case on behalf of Bryant in 2019 after the young man, paralyzed from a bullet that entered his spine and damaged several vertebrae, and confined to a wheelchair, found himself struggling to survive and with few options.

While he has since relocated to a different home, after initially being released from the hospital, he had to rely on a few of his cousins or friends to carry him either outside or to other parts of his house as it was not wheelchair accessible. As he recalled, “it was like being a prisoner in my own home.”

“We decided to take on Raheem’s case after seeing the video of the shooting,” Adams said. “When you see a young man who was not a hardened criminal, make a poor decision in attempting to go for a joyride, and then see that kid, young enough to be your son, lying in a bed with sores so deep they’re like craters, and unable to move around without pain, it does something to you.”

The suit, filed against the City of Newark, is now in the discovery phase, according to Adams, which, as he explained, means the case will not go to trial before next year at the earliest.

“This has already dragged on far too long and if the City files certain pretrial motions, it could go on for another two or three years,” Adams said. “Meanwhile, this young man is laying up in bed and he needs help. Yes, he made a mistake. But that shouldn’t be the end for him.

“He’s still young and he has children. I call it ‘disingenuous litigation.’ We’d like to see the City work on resolving the case but it’s just dragging on. It feels like the sentiment is it’s cheaper to pay for a dead kid than to pay for the kind of accommodations he now needs to move forward and will need for the rest of his life,” Adams said.

Bryant said he regrets running the streets in his younger days and following the crowd. But he said, back then, he just wasn’t thinking about the consequences of his actions.

“I know what I did was wrong – there’s not much I can say,” he said. “After it happened, my mother wasn’t mad because of what I had done as much as she was mad because I had gotten myself shot. She was mad because I could have died and left my two kids behind. Now, I spend a lot more time with them than I did before – that’s a good thing – something I should have been doing before. And I’ve worked through my depression and my anger. At first, I pushed all of my family and friends away and got upset about simple things. I’ve had to get over all of that, too.

“Dropping out of school after the 11th grade was a stupid thing to do. Now, I have a lot of time on my hands so I hope to go back and get my degree. I’ve got to do something positive with my life. And I tell the youngsters who are out in the streets now that it may seem like a lot of fun at first. But if you end up like me, none of your homies will be there with you. You’ll be all alone – in a black hole – in a bad state of mind. That’s when you have to chin up, own up to the mess you’ve made and hope you can find some help to get your life back on track,” Bryant said.

Efforts to speak with the City of Newark’s legal department via phone and email were not returned. However, following our memo to Sabur Guy, chief of staff, office of Dupré L. Kelly, West Ward Councilman, the following written statement was sent to the New Jersey Urban News:

“Good morning. Thank you for contacting me. This office has no comment at this time. This matter is with the City’s Law Department and I suggest you reach out to them.”

Bryant, who lives in Kelly’s district, said he was a little disappointed when he heard that his councilman couldn’t help him.

“My family voted for the Councilman and they’ve always had good things to say about him,” Bryant said. “But when I needed him, his office sent us to the legal department. Maybe that’s the way it is — but it didn’t feel good.”