Suspect fatally shot by West Hartford police when attempting to flee in stolen car with officer, K9 inside
By: Videos of the events leading up to an officer fatally shooting a suspect at a West Hartford Town Fair Tire on Tuesday were released Friday.
The office of the Inspector General is investigating whether West Hartford Police Officer Andrew Teeter's actions that resulted in the death of Mike Alexander-Garcia, 34, were justified.
Police were called Tuesday to find a stolen vehicle that was last seen at the West Farms Mall. Police found the vehicle on New Britain Ave. and they tried to stop the car with stop sticks.
The stolen vehicle ended up hitting two cars while at the intersection of New Britain Ave. and South St., which disabled the suspect vehicle, investigators said.
Two people, Lyle Solsbury and Alexander-Garcia, exited the vehicle, and Solsbury was then apprehended.
Alexander-Garcia then ran along New Britain Ave., attempting to carjack two vehicles before getting to Town Fair Tire.
He went into one of the garage service bays and went into a Toyota RAV4.
That's when Teeter and his K9 went into the garage bay and got in the passenger side of the RAV4, as seen in one of the videos released.
Alexander-Garcia, in the driver's seat, backed out of the garage and hit two vehicles in the parking lot, one of them being a police cruiser, investigators said.
Teeter is seen in a body cam video attempting to stop Alexander-Garcia before shooting him multiple times. The RAV4 ended up crashing into a pole across the street from the Town Fair Tire.
Alexander-Garcia was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Alexander-Garcia's death to be "gunshot wounds to the torso." The manner of death has been certified as "homicide."
Teeter ended up with a broken rib and multiple cuts on his head, and the K-9 did not appear injured, investigators said.