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Mike Alexander-Garcia

Age : 34

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 08/08/2023

Location : Town Fair Tire, 980 New Britain Avenue

City : West Hartford

County : Hartford

State : Connecticut

Agency : West Hartford Police Department

Officer(s) :Officer Andrew Teeter

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police after carjacking

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/08/2023, at approximately 5:00 p.m., West Hartford Police Department officers located a stolen Hyundai Elantra using license plate reader technology. Officers deployed stop sticks, flattening the vehicle's tires. The Hyundai then collided with two civilian vehicles at the intersection of New Britain Avenue and South Street, became disabled, and its occupants fled on foot. Mike Alexander-Garcia Jr. ran toward the Town Fair Tire store at 980 New Britain Avenue after unsuccessfully attempting to take control of two occupied vehicles.
Alexander-Garcia entered a Toyota RAV4 parked inside a service bay. K-9 Officer Andrew Teeter released his police dog into the vehicle and entered through the passenger side while attempting to remove Alexander-Garcia from the driver's seat. As the SUV backed out of the service bay and struck multiple vehicles, including a police cruiser, Teeter fired five rounds, striking Alexander-Garcia in the torso. The SUV came to rest after crashing into a utility pole. Alexander-Garcia was transported to Hartford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Officer Teeter suffered a broken rib and head lacerations during the struggle.
The Office of the Inspector General conducted the independent investigation. Body-worn camera footage, dashboard camera video, and surveillance footage from Town Fair Tire were publicly released on August 11, 2023. The videos captured the foot pursuit, K-9 deployment, struggle inside the SUV, and the shooting.
In August 2024, Alexander-Garcia's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Officer Andrew Teeter and the Town of West Hartford, alleging excessive force, constitutional violations, negligent training, and racial profiling. The suit seeks monetary damages and challenges the department's use of automated license plate reader technology.
On December 19, 2024, Connecticut Inspector General Robert Devlin concluded that Teeter's use of deadly force was legally justified, finding the officer reasonably believed he and others faced an imminent threat of serious physical injury or death while trapped inside the moving vehicle. No criminal charges were filed.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://apnews.com/article/97afdf1566517dd1167a65861333c3dd
https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/suspect-fatally-shot-by-west-hartford-officer-identified/3084396/
https://www.ctinsider.com/westhartford/article/west-hartford-police-shooting-andrew-teeter-18290097.php