New York's attorney general will not bring criminal charges against a state trooper who fatally shot a man during a 2024 search in Orange County, concluding prosecutors could not disprove that the use of deadly force was justified under state law.
The Office of Special Investigation's 16-page report concerns the death of Ali Ali, 28, on Sept. 18, 2024, near the New York State Thruway in Woodbury. Attorney General Letitia James' office reviewed witness accounts, security and body-camera video, state police radio and incident logs, physical evidence and the applicable law. Its conclusion is a decision about whether criminal charges could be proved; it is not a finding that every aspect of the encounter was beyond criticism.
Stolen vehicle led police to Woodbury
According to the report, New York City police had identified Ali as a suspect in a Sept. 16 stabbing at a Brooklyn laundromat and two attempted car thefts that day. Investigators said security video and witness identifications supported the alerts they later sent to state police. Those reported offenses were not adjudicated against Ali, and the attorney general's review focused on the later shooting.
Police also said Ali was suspected in a knife-point robbery of a Chevrolet Equinox on Staten Island shortly after 1 a.m. Sept. 18. The vehicle owner contacted OnStar, which tracked the SUV north toward the Thruway and relayed its location to state police. A trooper spotted it near Ramapo at about 5:45 a.m.; radio logs put its speed as high as 118 mph.
The trooper requested remote deactivation after the vehicle passed through a construction area. OnStar disabled it near mile marker 49 in Woodbury. As it slowed around 5:49 a.m., it collided with a tractor-trailer, hit a guardrail and caught fire. Ali ran into woods beside the highway, the attorney general's office said. The truck driver reported minor damage and declined medical attention.
Police initially searched the dark, steep brush near the crash. Later, after authorities issued a shelter-in-place alert, a Highland Mills homeowner supplied trail-camera images of someone matching Ali's description in woods north of Trout Brook Road. Search teams returned to that area.
Search in the woods ended with gunfire
A state police special operations team began a grid search shortly after 10 a.m., with a canine handler, tactical equipment and body cameras. Team members spotted Ali at 1:47 p.m. holding a knife, according to the report. Troopers followed at a distance and repeatedly told him to stop and drop it. The report says Ali turned away and kept walking after initially facing officers.
The report describes troopers backing up when Ali initially walked toward them with the knife. They used a flashbang near him, but he resumed walking away. A trooper later told him officers wanted to resolve the encounter peacefully, and another flashbang was deployed.
At about 1:52 p.m., Trooper Joseph Colby fired a Taser that briefly brought Ali to the ground. The report says Ali got up and moved toward Colby while holding the knife, despite further commands to stop. Trooper Thomas Raymond fired four rifle rounds as Ali came within arm's reach of Colby. Ali was pronounced dead at the scene, and investigators recovered an open folding knife nearby.
The Orange County medical examiner determined that Ali died from gunshot wounds to the torso. The autopsy documented three torso wounds and a possible graze wound to an arm. State police recovered four spent casings and a bullet at the scene, according to the report. Troopers rendered aid after the shooting.
Evidence and legal conclusion
The attorney general's investigators asked to interview Raymond and Colby, but both declined through their attorney, the report says. The office based its reconstruction on body-camera footage, other recordings, witness statements, dispatch records, physical evidence and medical findings. That refusal is a material limit on the available firsthand accounts, though the report says the video documents the decisive sequence.
Under New York's justification law, an officer may use deadly force when the officer reasonably believes it necessary to defend against another person's use or imminent use of deadly force. Prosecutors would have to disprove a justification defense beyond a reasonable doubt to obtain a conviction. The attorney general's office concluded that, given the knife, Ali's movement toward Colby and the sequence shown on video, it could not meet that burden against Raymond. The office said it therefore would not pursue criminal charges and closed its investigation.
State law requires the attorney general's office to issue a public report when its investigation of an officer-caused death ends without charges. The report does not decide whether the earlier reported crimes would have resulted in charges or convictions against Ali. The office did not announce a separate disciplinary finding.
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