Connecticut officer found justified in fatal shooting of carjacking suspect
A Connecticut police officer who fatally shot a man When he tried to flee in a stolen vehicle while being attacked by a police dog, using deadly force while in the car was justified, according to a report issued Thursday by the state Office of Inspector General.
It was both “reasonable and justified” for West Hartford Officer Andrew Teeter to fire five rounds into the torso of Mike Alexander-Garcia on August 8, 2023, to “defend himself and others from what he reasonably perceived to be a threat of serious injuries’. injury or death,” wrote Inspector General Robert J. Devlin, Jr. in the report.
The document comes four months after Alexander-Garcia’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit naming Teeter, West Hartford police and the city as suspects. It alleges violations of Alexander-Garcia’s constitutional rights, state laws and police policies and procedures. The family has also called for a federal civil rights investigation of the department, alleging racial profiling.
Attorneys for the family released a statement Thursday saying they were “deeply disappointed” in the inspector general’s report and claiming Alexander-Garcia’s death was “completely unnecessary” and the result of “over-aggressive” police work.
“If Officer Teeter had made different decisions that day, Mike would still be alive. We know what Mike did that day. But it is the job of our police officers to reduce danger and risk rather than increase it,” the attorneys said, noting that they “will continue to pursue justice and accountability on behalf of Mike and his family by any means necessary .”
The chaotic and deadly 2023 confrontation took place during the evening rush hour on a busy local street in suburban Hartford. The police had received a report of a stolen car. They used tire deflation equipment to stop it, but the vehicle continued to move before eventually crashing. Alexander-Garcia, who was inside, abandoned the car and tried unsuccessfully to take two occupied vehicles before running into a nearby car service center and getting into a Toyota RAV4 with the keys in the ignition.
Teeter sent the police dog into the vehicle through an open car window and ordered the dog to bite Alexander-Garcia. Teeter also got into the RAV4. But Alexander-Garcia, who began driving away, ignored the bites, Teeter’s commands to stop and repeated threats to shoot and continued to drive away, the inspector general’s office found.
Before he was shot, Alexander-Garcia can be heard saying on Teeter’s body camera, “Let me out.” Please. Please officer,” a transcript in the report said.
The officer shot Alexander-Garcia as he drove recklessly, hitting Teeter’s cruiser, another vehicle and a pile of tires before crashing into a utility pole. Alexander-Garcia was treated at the scene and later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The inspector general’s investigation found that it was “reasonable” for Teeter to deploy the dog and get into the vehicle himself. But attorneys for Alexander-Garcia’s family said the actions were overly aggressive.
“Lifting a police dog into the car Mike was in and then jumping into the car created the situation that led to Officer Teeter shooting Mike five times,” their statement said. “This was overly aggressive police work that led to tragic results.”