Evan Kelly

Introduction

Evan Kelly is a 47-year-old New Haven, Connecticut police officer who has been with the department since January 2016 and who turned himself in on October 15, 2026, on a warrant charging him with third-degree assault for allegedly using excessive force against a woman he arrested at a bar in October 2025. He was placed on administrative leave in early January when the internal investigation began, and he is free on a promise to appear in New Haven Superior Court on November 3, 2026.

Background Information

Kelly has primarily worked in patrol during his decade with the New Haven Police Department and has also served as a firearms instructor, patrol rifle instructor, and use-of-force instructor — the very roles that made the findings against him consequential inside the department, because two supervisors who reviewed his case were themselves excessive-force instructors. Court records cited in the arrest warrant affidavit show he had no prior history of internal affairs investigations before this case.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged, not convicted. Kelly faces a third-degree assault charge that has not been tried. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

According to the warrant affidavit, Kelly was dispatched to Elm City Social around 1:15 a.m. on October 18, 2025, for a disturbance complaint involving an employee who had been fired after being accused of becoming intoxicated at work and assaulting a co-worker. Kelly arrested the woman and handcuffed her hands behind her back. He later claimed the woman pulled away as he walked her to a cruiser, that he pushed her against the cruiser and hooked her left arm, and that when he felt the velcro on his pepper-spray pouch being opened, he punched her in the head twice before placing her in the cruiser.

A sergeant who also responded immediately questioned Kelly, and the exchange was captured on body cameras. “She’s pulling me. She’s pulling gear off my belt,” Kelly said, according to the affidavit. The sergeant noted the woman was handcuffed behind her back — “I know but she is cuffed behind her back,” he said — and told Kelly that “even if she is reaching, she can’t really do a hell of a lot when you have a hold of her.” Kelly ended the conversation, per the affidavit, by saying: “I’ll write what I have to write, and you do what you have to do.”

Two New Haven supervisors who are excessive-force instructors reviewed the body camera footage and incident reports and concluded that Kelly’s use of force was excessive, triggering a referral to the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office and Connecticut State Police. State’s Attorney John Doyle reviewed the case before the warrant was obtained. The woman herself told investigators she did not remember being hit in the head, denied resisting arrest, and said she was only trying to retrieve belongings she had dropped.

Public Reaction and Consequences

New Haven police chief David Zannelli and Mayor Justin Elicker issued a joint statement saying Kelly was placed on administrative leave in early January when the internal affairs investigation launched, that the probe was paused while state police investigated, and that “now that the state has concluded its investigation, the department’s internal affairs investigation will resume and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken upon its conclusion.”

Elicker went further in a separate statement: “Use of force by a law enforcement officer must always be necessary, reasonable and proportionate,” the mayor said, adding that the New Haven Police Department, the State’s Attorney, and Connecticut State Police “have all determined that Office Kelly’s use of force in this instance was excessive, and he will be held accountable for his actions.”

Current Status

Kelly is free on a promise to appear and is scheduled to appear in New Haven Superior Court on November 3, 2026, on the third-degree assault charge. The department’s internal affairs investigation has resumed now that the criminal investigation has concluded, with disciplinary action to follow its outcome.

Whether Kelly resolves the case by plea or trial, and what discipline — up to termination — the internal investigation produces, remain open questions. No public statement from Kelly or an attorney representing him had been reported as of the latest coverage.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Kelly’s decade-long law-enforcement career is in jeopardy on two tracks at once: the criminal charge itself, and an internal affairs investigation that resumed the day the state’s criminal investigation concluded and that chief Zannelli and Mayor Elicker have already said will produce “appropriate disciplinary action.” An officer whose own department’s excessive-force instructors found his force excessive — on body camera footage, on a handcuffed prisoner — faces near-certain termination proceedings in that internal track regardless of how the criminal case resolves in court.

Sources

• Hartford Courant: “New Haven police officer charged by state police for allegedly using excessive force during arrest” source