Actor Ernest Heinz charged in New Jersey road rage shooting

A New Jersey actor whose credits include the HBO series “The Sopranos,” as well as the films “J. Edgar” and “The Prestige,” has been charged with shooting a woman in her face during a road rage clash on Thursday.

Ernest W. Heinz, 46, of Port Republic, was arrested after he allegedly shot Maritza Arias-Galva during an “isolated road-rage incident” near Stockton University, the Galloway Township Police Department said Friday.

The off-campus shooting resulted in the university being placed on lockdown for roughly three hours Thursday afternoon as authorities searched for the suspect.

Cops eventually located Heinz after Arias-Galva called 911 to say she’d been shot in the face and described her attacker as a white male with his blonde hair in a ponytail. She said he was driving a white Honda SUV and fled the scene onto Vera King Ferris Drive.

When officers arrived to tend to the victim, they found her with a wound to her upper nose, reported ABC 6 Action News. She was taken to a hospital and was said to be in stable condition on Friday.

Heinz was ultimately taken into custody after authorities tracked him to a home in the Blue Heron Pines Development in Galloway Township. Search warrants were later executed on three residences in Port Republic, one in Galloway and on two motor vehicles, though police did not provide the details of those searches.

Heinz has been charged with criminal attempted homicide, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a firearm and additional weapons offenses.

He’s being held in the Atlantic County Justice Facility, with a detention hearing scheduled for next week. It’s not clear how Heinz intends to plead to the charges.

In addition to his minor roles in film and TV, Heinz is also credited with working as a face model for the “Resident Evil” video game series. According to his website, he additionally works as a real estate and mortgage broker.