Family of slain Newburgh car dealership manager question circumstances of workplace incident
Justin Grater was killed on Monday, according to Town of Newburgh police, outside of the Hudson Valley Chrystler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership on Route 17-K.
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The devastated fiancée of a Newburgh car dealership manager who was killed this week says their family has concerns surrounding the circumstances of the deadly incident and investigation.
Justin Grater was killed on Monday, according to Town of Newburgh police, outside of the Hudson Valley Chrystler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership on Route 17-K.
Police say a man moving a dealership Jeep struck and dragged the 41-year-old employee across the parking lot and busy four-lane road.
“This is not a malfunction,” says Grater’s fiancée, Gillian Barrett. “All they were doing was moving the vehicles.”
Grater’s fiancée says the death certificate found the cause of death to be due to an “accident,” but alleges there may be more to the case.
Barrett says the person who hit Grater is a coworker who’s also a town councilman for a municipality in Ulster County.
She says Grater was recently engaged in talks for the driver to resign due to several alleged workplace issues. She says their family believes he was hit on purpose due to the alleged circumstances of the incident.
“After he hit Justin, he brought the car back to the dealership and he backed it into the lot, into that spot on that front line,” says Barrett.
Police have not released the name of the driver and will not confirm any additional details of the incident – other than to say it remains under investigation.
News 12 reached out to the dealership and the alleged driver for comment but hasn't heard back.
