A press conference was held Wednesday afternoon at Town Hall detailing a lawsuit filed by the family of Mike Alexander-Garcia Jr., a man fatally shot by a West Hartford police officer last August. 

By Bridget Bronsdon 

The family of Mike Alexander-Garcia Jr., a man fatally shot by West Hartford Police Ofc. Andrew Teeter in August 2023, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer, the Town of West Hartford, and the West Hartford Police Department, listing 15 counts in the complaint filed Aug. 7, 2024.

“We found serious violations of training. We found significant violations of police policy, and it was clear to us that Ofc. Teeter did not understand the risk that he undertook when he was making the decisions that led to the death of Mike Alexander Garcia Jr,” said Attorney Peter Bowman, a founding partner of BBB Attorneys, at a press conference the law firm held at West Hartford Town Hall on Aug. 14. 

The incident took place in West Hartford on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, and the chain of events began at approximately 4:53 p.m. that day when officers were traveling east on New Britain Avenue near Westfarms Mall and spotted a Hyundai Elantra believed to have been reported stolen. After confirming the status of the vehicle, West Hartford Police deployed stop sticks in the area of New Britain Avenue and New Park Avenue, West Hartford Police Chief Vernon Riddick told reporters last August.

Connecticut’s Police Accountability Act requires investigation of use of force incidents by the Office of the Inspector General, which has not yet released its final ruling on whether or not the shooting was justified in this case.

“West Hartford is committed to police accountability and transparency. A lawsuit at this stage contains unproven allegations, and it is important to note that this matter is still under investigation by the Office of Inspector General, the independent state office responsible for reviewing the deadly use of force by police,” West Hartford Corporation Counsel Dallas Dodge said in a statement when asked for comment by We-Ha.com. “The Inspector General is tasked with conducting a thorough and impartial review of the facts, and we await the issuance of a final report.” 

A preliminary report and press release issued by Inspector General Robert Devlin Jr. on Aug. 11, 2023, provides details of how the incident unfolded, noting that despite the deployment of the stop sticks, the driver of the stolen vehicle did not stop until after colliding with a silver BMW and then a blue Honda Pilot on New Britain Avenue.

The two occupants of the Hyundai – identified by the Office of Inspector General’s Office as Lyle Solsbury, 47, and Mike Alexander-Garcia, 34 – exited the vehicle and fled.

West Hartford officers quickly apprehended Solsbury, who was already a convicted felon with multiple outstanding charges. He was found guilty and has been sentenced to six months in jail in connection with this incident.

The Inspector General’s preliminary report said that Alexander-Garcia attempted to carjack two vehicles but was unsuccessful. He continued to Town Fair Tire, at 980 New Britain Avenue, and entered a Toyota RAV4 that was being worked on in one of the garage bays. Surveillance video from Town Fair Tire (which can be viewed here) shows an employee rushing toward the RAV4 and appearing to try to stop Alexander-Garcia, who appears in the video to be attempting to back the car out of the bay but was being slowed by equipment behind the front wheels.

Surveillance video shows K-9 Officer Andrew Teeter entering the garage bay roughly 10 seconds after Alexander-Garcia got into the RAV4. Ofc. Teeter ordered the Town Fair Tire employee to back down and immediately deployed his K-9 into the RAV4 through the passenger side window, and then entered the vehicle himself.

Ofc. Teeter, and the K-9 continued to struggle with Alexander-Garcia, who then backed out of the bay, and drove out of the Town Fair Tire parking lot, in the process striking two vehicles, one of which was the West Hartford Police Department K-9 vehicle.

“As Alexander-Garcia continued to drive, Officer Teeter discharged his weapon multiple times striking Alexander-Garcia in the torso,” the Office of Inspector General’s press release states. “The Toyota crashed into a utility pole across the street from Town Fair Tire near the intersection of New Britain Avenue and Shield Street.”

Dashboard and body camera video released by the Office of the Inspector General shows multiple views of the incident unfolding, including as Alexander-Garcia collides with Teeter’s vehicle, and narrowly misses hitting another police officer.

“As Alexander-Garcia continued to drive, Officer Teeter discharged his weapon multiple times striking Alexander-Garcia in the torso,” the Office of Inspector General’s press release states. “The Toyota crashed into a utility pole across the street from Town Fair Tire near the intersection of New Britain Avenue and Shield Street.”

Although Bowman questions the timing of when medical assistance was provided, footage shows that police as well as West Hartford Fire Department paramedics provided CPR to Alexander-Garcia, after the RAV4 crashed into the utility pole. He was transported to Hartford Hospital, but was pronounced dead at 5:53 p.m.

Bowman said that among the items listed in the multi-count complaint filed last week, that have been listed as violations by the plaintiff, is the WHPD’s lack of a foot pursuit policy is the biggest.

While it is standard for police departments to have an established foot pursuit policy and many police departments across the country have one, Bowman said West Hartford does not and said the town failed to provide Teeter with the “skills necessary to properly handle this situation.” 

According to Bowman, “Ofc. Teeter did not know what he was supposed to do when he chased Mike Alexander Garcia, and that led to further mistakes and decisions on his behalf that led to the death of Mike Alexander Garcia. Officer Teeter failed to block off the exit to the auto body facility. Ofc. Teeter made a huge error when he put the dog, his K-9 officer, in the vehicle with Mike Alexander Garcia. He made another error in violation of policy when he discharged weapons within the vehicle and when he failed and entered the vehicle despite the fact that there was an alleged assailant, Mike, in the vehicle. All of those are strong violations of established police policy, and that is a failure that the Town of West Hartford, the West Hartford Police Department had, and that led to the death of Mike Alexander Garcia,” Bowman said. 

Attorney Peter Bowman speaks at the press conference for lawsuit filed by Mike Alexander-Garcia’s family. August 14, 2024. Photo credit: Bridget Bronsdon

The cause of Alexander-Garcia’s death was “Gunshot Wounds of Torso” according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Prior to Teeter discharging his weapon, Bowman said Alexander-Garcia repeated the words “Please don’t kill me” several times. “These words are the words of someone who is surrendering to the police,” Bowman said. The attorney’s allegations are that Officer Teeter “did not intend to arrest or de-escalate or take any other action.” 

Bowman said that instead of using other methods to de-escalate the situation or disable the car, Teeter proceeded to put his K-9 and himself in the vehicle, say “I’m going to effing kill you,” and “immediately goes for his gun,” Bowman said. 

Bowman also said Wednesday that according to his firm’s investigation, the administration of first aid to Alexander-Garcia was delayed. 

The attorney also referenced a state-mandated and legislatively ordered report, the Racial Profiling Prohibition Project, which assesses data in Connecticut. In 2019, the report reviewed data gathered in 2017 regarding racial profiling in West Hartford. 

The report “found such anomalies and problems with the data that it ordered an independent and supplemental investigation” of the town. The results found that “West Hartford had a significant rate of minority traffic stops that was inconsistent with the minority population in the surrounding area and in the town of West Hartford. It directed them to review their policing policies and to make changes as it related to their policing and traffic stops,” Bowman said. 

The changes did not occur, he said. In 2020, the WHPD “identified a culture of problems” and “the Town Council issued a resolution” asserting a promotion of equality. Despite these statements, data from 2021 continued to reveal “significant disparities in the traffic stops of minorities,” Bowman said. 

West Hartford Town Council resolution declaring racism a public health crisis. August 14, 2024. Photo credit: Bridget Bronsdon

“Given the history here, given the data that we have, you don’t have to take our investigation for it. The Racial Profiling Prohibition Project has found that there are issues within the West Hartford Police Department, and based upon that, we are asking for an investigation by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice,” he said. 

Bowman also emphasized data from 2021 and 2022 that revealed minorities are 1.5 to 2 times more likely to be pulled over in West Hartford. The Alexander-Garcia Jr. incident occurred on New Britain Avenue, an area that has the highest level of disparity of the population of West Hartford in comparison to the number of minority traffic stops, according to the Census Tract.

Kenneth Krayeske, an attorney at BBB, said during Wednesday’s press conference that West Hartford’s policy does not allow use of deadly force for a car theft. He said that New Britain Avenue “has been militarized by the West Hartford Police Department … so what we’re calling for is for the United States Department of Justice to step in and begin taking the statistical data that the Institute for Municipal Research and Policy at the University of Connecticut and the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project has done to begin an investigation into the town of West Hartford.” 

Kenneth Krayeske speaks at the press conference for lawsuit filed by Mike Alexander-Garcia’s family. August 14, 2024. Photo credit: Bridget Bronsdon

Bowman said they filed the claim against the entire police department because they do not have information regarding specific officers working that day. He also said they are “not foreclosing a potential of other claims” and are “going  to wait and see what the federal government through the DOJ and the Civil Rights Division decides.”

A notice of claim sent to the Town of West Hartford in January 2024 indicates that while “the total amount and value of the claims has not been determined,” it is expected they will exceed $75 million. The lawsuit requests damages in excess of $15,000, and Bowman said Wednesday that a more specific amount is not currently being sought.

Riddick told We-Ha.com that Teeter remains on administrative duty and has his K-9, but is not carrying a weapon at this time.

Quote from West Hartford Police Chief Vernon Riddick at the Mike Alexander-Garcia lawsuit press conference. August 14, 2024. Photo credit: Bridget Bronsdon

Ronni Newton, We-Ha.com, contributed to this report.

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