Video shows aftermath of West Hartford police shooting
WEST HARTFORD — Attorneys for the family of a man who was shot and killed by a local police officer have released a bystander’s video showing police waiting for nearly two minutes before performing CPR on the dying man.
According to attorney Peter Bowman, the gap may have been as long as seven minutes before officers rendered medical aid based on the time stamps of the body camera footage and the video the witness recorded.
Mike Alexander-Garcia, 34, died after being shot several times in the torso by West Hartford Police K-9 Officer Andrew Teeter outside Town Fair Tire on New Britain Avenue on Aug. 8, according to a preliminary report released by the state Office of the Inspector General.
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During a news conference at West Hartford City Hall a few days later, Bowman and and fellow attorney Kenneth Krayeske said Alexander-Garcia’s family hired two experts in police tactics and use of force as part of an investigation the legal team is conducting into the death.
During a virtual news conference Tuesday afternoon, Bowman released the bystander’s video that appears to show police officers walking around after pulling Alexander-Garcia from an SUV he was accused of trying to steal.
Bowman also said the Autopsy Initiative associated with the Know Your Rights Camp co-founded by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick has paid for a second autopsy on Alexander-Garcia. The autopsy was completed, Bowman said, but he did not release the results. His family can now arrange for his burial, Bowman said.
The witness video, which was recorded from across the street from where the SUV crashed, shows officers pulling the 34-year-old from the vehicle and then leaving him on the ground as they appear to walk around and talk to each other. More than 90 seconds elapsed before they attempted to position his body to perform CPR, the video shows. The footage shows one officers running to a police cruiser parked yards away while another arrived with a bag and appears to pull out medical supplies.
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West Hartford police did not return an email on Tuesday seeking comment from Police Chief Vernon Riddick on the release of the video.
It’s unclear how long Alexander-Garcia was in the SUV before the bystander started recording. It is also unclear how many minutes elapsed before EMS or paramedics arrived. Bowman said the time stamp on Teeter’s body camera showed the shooting occurred at 5:12 p.m., while the time stamp on the bystander’s phone indicated it was 5:19 p.m. when the recording started and more than a minute more elapsed before officers began CPR.
“The delay may now be up to seven minutes,” Bowman said. The bystander’s video has been submitted to the inspector general, which is investigating the use of deadly force, he said.
Bowman and the family are also questioning why West Hartford police will not reveal if Teeter has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the inspector general’s investigation.
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“They should be letting the public know,” Bowman said.
Krayeske described Alexander-Garcia as artistic, loving and funny, during the prior news conference.
But he wrestled with addiction and was working to get his life back on track while in a halfway house in Hartford before he was killed, the attorney said.
On July 20, Alexander-Garcia walked away from a halfway house where he was completing a 30-month sentence for a first-degree larceny conviction, state Department of Correction officials said. His family resides in Windham, Bowman said.
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On Aug. 8, West Hartford police spotted a stolen car occupied by Alexander-Garcia and a second man, who authorities have identified as Lyle Solsbury, 47, near the Westfarms mall around 5 p.m., according to the inspector general’s report.
Police used “stop sticks” and the car became disabled after it collided with two other vehicles, the report stated.
After the crash, Alexander-Garcia unsuccessfully attempted to carjack two vehicles as he headed toward the Town Fair Tire on New Britain Avenue, the inspector general’s report said.
At the tire shop, he got into a Toyota RAV4 that was parked in one of the garage bays, the report stated.
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“Moments later, West Hartford K-9 Officer Andrew Teeter entered the garage bay,” the report stated. “In an effort to apprehend Alexander-Garcia, Officer Teeter deployed the K-9 into the Toyota and then entered the passenger side of the vehicle.”
The incident was captured on Teeter’s body camera and the dash cam of his cruiser, as well as a surveillance camera at the Town Fair Tire, the inspector general’s office said.
The inspector general’s report did not say whether Alexander-Garcia was armed or whether Teeter suspected the 34-year-old was armed.
While inside the vehicle, Teeter fired several shots at Alexander-Garcia as the RAV4 was moving, the videos show.
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Bowman and Krayeske contend that Teeter never gave Alexander-Garcia clear commands on how to stop the car and avoid being shot and that the officer didn’t have to use deadly force to get the situation under control.
“He was trying,” Krayeske said of Alexander-Garcia. “The family feels the system failed him.”
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