State Police Sgt. Colin Richter's body cam footage. Warning: This video contains graphic violence.
The two city police officers who tried to arrest and wound up shooting and killing 36-year-old New Havener Jebrell Conley — after Conley appeared to fire first — are back on full duty.
New Haven Police Chief Chief Karl Jacobson shared that news at an unrelated press conference Monday morning on the third floor of the police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.
While the state inspector general has yet to issue a full report, Jacobson said that the inspector general’s preliminary clearance was issued Oct. 31, and that Sgt. Francisco Sanchez and Officer Michael Valente went back on full duty the following week.
“[The Inspector General is] just saying that they don’t see any malfeasance or misconduct that raised them to the level of us not putting them back on the street,” Jacobson told the Independent after the press conference.
Sanchez and Valente had been placed on leave following the Sept. 19 fatal encounter at the Splash Car Wash at 2 Boston Post Rd., just over the New Haven border in West Haven. That’s where, on Sept. 19, Conley appeared to fire first at — and was then shot and killed by — New Haven Violent Crime Task Force officers trying to serve an arrest warrant stemming from a July robbery during which Conley and others allegedly hit and shot a man in Hamden as they stole his drugs and money.
Three of the 11 police officers — including two city cops, Sanchez and Valente — shot at Conley during the incident. The state Office of the Inspector General and state police are investigating the case.
Jacobson told the Independent on Monday that the city police department will undertake its own internal investigation of the fatal shooting, but only after the inspector general’s investigation is complete.
“The community has struggled with Jebrell’s loss. Our officers are struggling with Mr. Conley’s loss and we’re trying to move forward,” Jacobson said. “And, you know, the officers are going out there and doing the same job and trying to continue to do the great work” they do every day.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified one of the involved officer’s last names as Vitale. His last name is Valente.