WEST HARTFORD, CT — State investigators released dramatic footage Friday of when a West Hartford police officer shot and killed a car theft suspect outside of Town Fair Tire on Tuesday.
The Connecticut Officer of the Inspector General released five different angles of the incident late Friday morning, the most dramatic being of the officer involved in the shooting.
In addition, state investigators also released the identities of the suspect killed and the WHPD officer involved in the incident.
The suspect has been identified as Mike Alexander-Garcia, 34, who was described as a Hispanic male, according to a preliminary state report released Friday.
State officials identified the WHPD police officer involved in the shooting as being K-9 officer Andrew Teeter.
Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch. Your email address Subscribe While the investigation is ongoing, state officials in their report released a detailed chronology of Tuesday afternoon's events at a busy commercial district in town.
According to the three-page report, at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8, West Hartford police were attempting to stop a stolen Hyundai Elentra traveling east on New Britain Avenue.
At the New Britain Avenue/South Street intersection, the stolen Hyundai hit a silver BMW and a blue Honda Pilot, disabling the Hyundai, state officials wrote in the report.
According to investigators, the two occupants of the stolen vehicle, Lyle Solsbury, 46, and Alexander-Garcia, exited the Hyundai and fled.
Solsbury was immediately apprehended by police, with Alexander-Garcia fleeing east on New Britain Avenue, authorities wrote.
In the report, the state alleges Alexander-Garcia unsuccessfully tried to carjack two vehicles, eventually making his way to a Town Fair Tire at 980 New Britain Ave.
State authorities said Alexander-Garcia entered the Town Fair Tire garage and then entered the driver's side of a Toyota Rav4 vehicle being serviced there.
Shortly after, Teeter and his police dog entered the garage and the passenger side of the vehicle and attempted to subdue Alexander-Garcia, according to state officials.
"Despite the K-9 and Officer Teeter being in the vehicle struggling with Alexander-Garcia, he backed out of the garage and drove out of the Town Fair Tire parking lot striking two vehicles. One of those vehicles was the K-9 police vehicle," wrote the state Office of the Inspector General. "As Alexander-Garcia continued to drive, Officer Teeter discharged his weapon multiple times, striking Alexander-Garcia in the torso."
The Toyota ended up crashing across the street into a utility pole, near the intersection of New Britain Avenue and Shield Street, officials said.
Authorities said Teeter sustained a broken rib and multiple head lacerations and was taken to the hospital. The police dog was unharmed.
Alexander-Garcia was taken to Hartford Hospital and pronounced dead at 5:53 p.m. that afternoon, reads the report.
Authorities said the investigation into the incident is continuing.
West Hartford town and police officials weighed in on the situation, expressing hope for a thorough state probe into the matter.
“Any loss of life is tragic in such a difficult situation. The videos that have been released are undeniably hard to watch. Thankfully, Connecticut has been a national leader in developing a fair, independent and transparent system for investigating police-involved shootings. I am confident that our police department will work together with state authorities to ensure that a comprehensive and thorough investigation is conducted into this incident,” said Democratic West Hartford Mayor Shari G. Cantor in a statement.
The town's top WHPD official said the release of the footage was necessary and the department believes "strongly" in transparency of the facts.