by Thomas Breen
Officer Evan Kelly, as pictured in 2018, said that he punched a handcuffed arrestee in the head last October because she was trying to grab his pepper spray. Credit: Markeshia Ricks file photo
New Haven police Officer Evan Kelly turned himself in to the state police on Thursday to be arrested for allegedly using excessive force when he punched a 33-year-old handcuffed woman in the head as he arrested her outside of a downtown bar last October.
Kelly, who was a use-of-force instructor at the time of the head-punching incident, said that he believed his response was appropriate given that the woman he was arresting was trying to grab the pepper spray from his equipment belt.
“[S]he can’t really do a hell of a lot when you have a hold of her,” a shift supervisor, Sgt. Brian Watrous, told Kelly on scene as the officer explained his actions immediately after they had occurred.
“Well she is grabbing my pepper spray,” Kelly replied.
“I know,” Watrous said, “but she is cuffed behind her back.”
The woman who was arrested, meanwhile, adamantly denied being aggressive, resisting arrest, or trying to grab Kelly’s pepper spray — despite body-worn camera footage that investigators said appeared to show otherwise.
Those details and many more are included in a criminal information summary and redacted warrant published by the state police on Friday.
State police included those documents in a press release bearing the headline: “Lengthy Investigation by CSP Detectives Results in Arrest in Use of Force Incident.”
The state police documents show that Kelly has been charged with third-degree assault and that he turned himself into Connecticut State Police (CSP) — Troop F on Thursday at 10 a.m.
The 10-year New Haven Police Department (NHPD) veteran was released on a Written Promise To Appear (WPTA), and is scheduled to appear in New Haven state court for a hearing on Nov. 3 at 9 a.m.
In a separate Friday morning press release, the NHPD noted that Kelly had been arrested on the charge of third-degree assault, and that he was arraigned in Hartford.
“The NHPD’s internal affairs investigation was temporarily paused while the state was conducting its criminal investigation,” that press release states. “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.”
“She Was Trying To Take The Pepper Spray Off Of My Belt”
The 12-page warrant was written by state police Det. Jason Trombly of the Central District Major Crime Unit. It states that the use-of-force incident at the center of this case occurred on Oct. 18, 2025, at around 1:14 a.m.
Kelly, now 47, was assigned to work a bar detail downtown that night. He responded to a “disturbance complaint” that the NHPD received regarding an employee at Elm City Social on College Street.
At the scene, Kelly heard from the bar’s general manager that the employee — whose name has been redacted from the warrant — had been fired for being intoxicated at work. The general manager also stated that the employee “physically assaulted another coworker” and “damaged an iPad.”
Kelly told the employee that she was under arrest “for offenses related to the disturbance.”
The warrant states that the arrestee, “who was initially non-compliant and disobeyed commands, eventually complied after being told numerous times to place her hands behind her back.” Kelly then placed her under arrest and handcuffed her hands behind her back.
As he escorted her to his cruiser, the warrant states, “she became non-compliant by attempting to pull away and turn her body. Officer Kelly forcefully placed [her] against the side of his cruiser and positioned his right arm hooked around her left arm to maintain control.”
At 1:17 a.m., Sgt. Brian Watrous, the shift supervisor, arrived and approached the cruiser to assist Kelly. Watrous held the arrestee’s right arm.
“I felt her hands grabbing the front of my duty belt where my pistol magazines and pepper spray were located,” the warrant quotes Kelly as writing in his police report. “I yelled at her to let go of me three times. She did not comply and I felt and heard the velcro of my pepper spray pouch being opened.”
Kelly reported that he did not pull himself away from the arrestee “as doing so could have facilitated her ability to remove equipment from his duty belt,” according to the warrant.
Kelly wrote that he said “release me” to the arrestee and then “struck her once with a closed fist on the left side of her head using his non-dominant left hand when she did not comply.”
Kelly said that the arrestee’s grip initially loosened, but then tightened on his pepper spray. He “interpreted this as another attempt to remove the pepper spray.” He then struck her “a second time with a closed fist using his non-dominant and to the left side of her head.”
The arrestee then released her grip on the pepper spray, Kelly “created distance from her,” and she was secured in the rear seat of the cruiser.
Watrous asked Kelly what happened, and Kelly immediately replied that the arrestee had been “attempting to grab his OC pepper spray.” The officers’ body-worn camera also recorded Kelly telling a group of bystanders, “The reason I hit her was she was trying to take the pepper spray off of my belt.”
After Watrous pushed back on Kelly’s justification of his use of force, the officer replied, “I’ll write what I have to write, and you do what you have to do.”
According to the state police’s arrest warrant for Kelly, the woman he punched “remained conscious and alert throughout the incident. She appeared under the influence of alcohol and was acting belligerent. While on scene [redacted] was yelling, screaming, and using her legs to prevent closing the police cruiser door numerous times. At one point [redacted] can be heard saying, ‘Fuck the police, fuck the judge, fuck it all.’”
When an ambulance arrived, Kelly instructed her to exit the cruiser so she could be placed on a stretcher. “Fuck you and your mom,” she replied. Kelly and Watrous then “had to use physical force to place her on the stretcher.” Kelly wrote that she had “vomited a moderate amount of thin, pink liquid that smelled like wine,” including in the rear of the police cruiser.
She was released from the hospital that same day and was later arrested by city police “for various charges related to the incident.” Friday’s NHPD press release states that those charges included second-degree breach of peace, second-degree criminal mischief, third-degree assault, first-degree criminal trespass, and interfering with an officer.
The state police detective wrote that he reviewed NHPD videos and photographs from the incident and “found them consistent with the officers’ reports.”
On April 1, state police interviewed Kelly at a law office in Hartford. Kelly’s attorneys Jeff Ment and Francesco Picone were present for the interview.
Kelly told the state police investigators that, over the course of a decade working for the NHPD, he has primarily worked in patrol, though he has also worked as a firearms instructor, a patrol rifle instructor, and a use-of-force instructor. He said he has also had medical training, including through his participation in a “Stop the Bleed” program.
He said that he responded to Elm City Social that night after receiving a dispatch call for a disturbance, “described as an assault in progress involving an employee actively fighting with others inside the establishment.”
He told the investigators that, after he had placed the arrestee in handcuffs and as he escorted her to his cruiser, she “began pulling away from him” and he believed “she was attempting to escape his custody.” He said that, after Watrous arrived and as he tried to place the arrestee in his his cruiser, “he felt [redacted] grab at his duty belt in the area of his pepper spray” and then felt her “pulling on the pepper spray pouch and hearing a tearing or Velcro-like sound.”
He said he gave her verbal commands to release his equipment, she did not comply, and he “delivered a closed-fist strike to the back/side of her head in an attempt to cause her to release the pepper spray.” When she did not fully release her grip, he “delivered a second closed-fist strike to the same area.”
Kelly said he believed the arrestee’s actions “posed a threat, as he considered pepper spray to be a dangerous instrument and believed that if deployed against him, it would incapacitate him and create a safety risk for others.”
Kelly said that his actions “were based on his training and understanding of use-of-force policy, specifically citing active resistance, attempted escape, and prevention of injury to an officer as justification for the use of force.”
Then, on April 17, state police Det. Trombly interviewed the woman who had been arrested and punched by Kelly, along with her public defender, attorney Joyce Lopes.
She told Trombly that her shift at Elm City Social had ended between 10 p.m. and 11 a.m., and that she had remained on the premises after clocking out. She said that consumed around two glasses of wine and “remained aware of her surroundings.” She also “declined to provide details regarding the events inside the establishment prior to the police arrival, citing advice of counsel.”
She said that, within seconds of the arrival of police, “she was placed in handcuffs. She did not recall being verbally informed that she was under arrest prior to being handcuffed.” She said the handcuffs were “tight and caused discomfort.” And she said that, when she was escorted out of the bar, “she did not resist, attempt to flee, or act aggressively toward officers.”
Outside of the bar, she said “she was lifted and forcefully placed against the [police] vehicle. … She described the interaction as aggressive and stated that she experienced pain during this process.”
After she had been placed in the cruiser, “she reported that she was crying, in distress, and calling out for assistance. She stated that she believed her requests for help were not acknowledged.” She said that she sustained injuries, “including facial swelling, bruising, jaw discomfort, and generalized body pain.” She said a CT scan was conducted and revealed no fractures, “only inflammation.”
In a subsequent interview with city and state police on June 15, the arrestee watched various videos, including body-worn camera footage, from her arrest. When she viewed the portion of the video showing Kelly punching her in the head, “she appeared surprised.” She said she did not remember that occurring and had not mentioned it during the first interview. “She remained adamant that she did not resist at any point and did not grab Officer Kelly or any part of his belt.”
She also told police that, prior to her arrest, she had been involved in “a full bar fight [at Elm City Social] that took place in three different rooms with the restaurant bouncer. [Redacted] said that she was punched in the face and all over her body.”
She told investigators that she wanted Kelly arrested and wished to file a complaint with the NHPD.
State police also obtained her medical records, which indicated that she arrived at Yale New Haven Hospital on Oct. 18, 2025, at 1:56 a.m. This part of the warrant references complaints regarding “alcohol intoxication and aggressive behavior,” and states that she was given a medication that “is often used to calm severely agitated, combative or violent patients in emergency care.” A physical exam by a doctor noted that she had a “black eye.” She was discharged from the hospital at 6:34 a.m.
Force Must Be “Necessary, Reasonable, & Proportionate To The Threat”
The state police warrant references relevant city police general orders, including 6.01.06 Prohibitions on the Use of Physical Force. “Force against handcuffed people is not categorically prohibited, provided the force used is necessary, reasonable, and proportionate to the threat,” Trombly wrote.
Ultimately, Kelly’s case was passed along to New Haven State’s Attorney John Doyle for prosecutorial review “due to an official finding by New Haven Police that Officer Kelley’s actions during this arrest were determined to be excessive by two New Haven Police Supervisors. Both Supervisors are NHPD Use of Force instructors, reviewed all incident reports and body worn cameras, and determined actions by Officer Kelly to be excessive under NHPD policy.”
After reviewing the investigative findings, Doyle requested that an arrest warrant application be submitted charging Kelly with assault in the third degree.
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