NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A veteran Newark police officer was indicted Wednesday, on charges that he pulled a gun on a man driving with his wife and son after a traffic dispute this past winter.

Officer David Hudson, 43, of Irvington, was indicted by an Essex County grand jury on Wednesday. He was accused of chasing a couple and their 11-year-old son on March 8, after getting into a quarrel with the father.

The 21-year-veteran officer was off duty when he followed the car from Central Avenue and West Market Street to Interstate 280, and finally the area of Broad Street to Third Avenue, prosecutors alleged. He then got out of his mint green Cadillac and pointed a gun at the father, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors claimed Hudson was not in lawful possession of the gun he had with him that day.

Hudson was charged with official misconduct, aggravated assault by pointing a firearm, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

He was set to make an initial court appearance on Aug. 8 before Essex County Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin.

Hudson’s indictment came a day after federal officials announced that the Newark Police Department will undergo independent monitoring, following a three-year investigation that found what was deemed “a pattern of unconstitutional policing” that included excessive use of force and inadequate accountability.

The Justice Department probe began in May 2011 after the American Civil Liberties Union New Jersey filed a complaint claiming rampant misconduct in the department. It found problems with stop-and-arrest policies, police handling of complaints from residents and officers’ use of excessive force, which it said was unreasonable in more than 20 percent of cases.

The report also found the department violated the First Amendment rights of residents who lawfully objected to police actions, and it found a pattern of officers in the narcotics, gang and prisoner processing units stealing residents’ property.

The monitor should be appointed by September, WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell reported on Tuesday.

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