Ernest Heinz, an actor who appeared in an episode of The Sopranos, has been indicted on 31 charges following a shooting in New Jersey on Sept. 11.
On the day of the incident, a woman named Maritza Arias-Galva called police and alleged she had been shot in the face during a road-rage incident near Stockton University in Galloway Township, N.J. She described her attacker “as a White male, with blonde hair in a ponytail” and told authorities he was driving a white Honda SUV, Galloway Township Police said in a release at the time.
Police used Arias-Galva’s description to track down Heinz, 46, at a local residence and took him into custody. At the time, he was charged with criminal attempt homicide, aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, Galloway Township Police said.
Earlier this month, a grand jury indicted Heinz on a total of 31 counts. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 30, 2026, according to court records.
“He denies the allegations as reported and will contest them through the legal process, where the facts—not speculation or headlines—will determine the outcome,” a lawyer for Heinz said in a statement. “We ask that the public and the media respect the presumption of innocence and allow this matter to proceed in court.”
The new charges stem from firearms discovered inside a storage unit that Heinz allegedly visited moments after the shooting, according to Breaking AC and ABC 6.
Heinz will remain in custody until his trial, according to NJ.com.
Heinz is accused of shooting Arias-Galva with a .380 caliber firearm that was registered in his father’s name, according to Breaking AC. At the time of the alleged road-rage incident, Heinz was driving a white Honda CRV registered to his mother after spending time at his family home caring for his parents, Breaking AC reported.
Heinz and Arias-Galva were merging into a single lane on South Pomona Road in Galloway on Sept. 11 when he allegedly passed her. When they encountered one another again near Stockton, Heinz was allegedly shouting from his car before firing at least one round into Arias-Galva’s vehicle, NJ.com reported.
During their encounter, Heinz allegedly told the woman, “I’m going to kill you,” prosecutors said at a detention hearing, according to NJ.com.
Investigators later linked Heinz to the shooting through security footage that allegedly shows him returning to Port Republic, N.J., while armed with a handgun “less than 10 minutes after the shooting,” NJ.com reported. Authorities said Heinz was then seen retrieving two bags at the Port Republic residence—one containing a rifle and another from Wawa—both of which were later found in a storage unit rented by one of Heinz’s friends, according to the report.
On Sept. 13, Arias-Galva spoke to The Philadelphia Inquirer while recovering at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. She told the outlet that she tried not to engage with the suspect.
“I know that kind of person, because I work customer service. I just said, ‘Thank you, sir.’ And he said he was taking my life today,” she recalled.
She added that she was “thinking about [her] kids” while calling the police. “I was thinking, I need to survive this. I’m the only family they have in New Jersey.”
