Indictment: Man tried to kill cop in gunfire exchange that hit 8-year-old girl

CBS video posted to YouTube in November

The man authorities say exchanged gunfire with a police officer — striking an 8-year-old girl in the process — has been indicted on a charge of attempted murder.

Dante Allen, 20, is also facing several other charges — three alleged weapons offenses as well as receiving stolen property and possession of a controlled dangerous substance, cocaine, in the indictment.

Authorities have said the altercation last November began when an officer asked to see Allen’s hands as he walked along Atkins Avenue, holding what the officer suspected to be a gun in his sweatshirt.

After getting out of his cruiser and speaking to Allen, the officer felt the butt of a gun under Allen’s shirt, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office alleges. Allen ran off, and the officer chased him to a field where Allen turned and fired a shot at the officer, who fired back and hit Allen in the leg, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

It wasn't immediately clear whose bullet made its way through a Borden Avenue home, striking and grazing an 8-year-old girl the forehead as she watched television. Ballistics were inconclusive, the prosecutor's office said, but Gramiccioni released a statement in January saying the bullet most likely came from the police officer’s gun.

Last month, the prosecutor's office cleared the officer in the incident, finding he acted appropriately when he fired back.

Allen was struck in the leg in the exchange of fire. The girl received stitches for her injuries and was released from an area in the hospital the same night.

Authorities say Allen was found in possession of a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun. He is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in default of $1,337,500 bail.

If convicted of attempted Murder, Allen faces a sentence of up to 20 years in a New Jersey state prison, subject to the provisions of the "No Early Release Act" requiring him to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for release on parole. He would also be under parole supervision for five years following his release from state prison.

If convicted of the second-degree weapons offenses, Allen could face an additional sentence of five to ten years in prison for each count. The fourth-degree charge of Possession of a Prohibited Weapon carries an additional sentence of up to 18 months in state prison. If convicted of the third-degree offenses, he faces an additional sentence of three to five years in prison on each count.