New Haven Police have launched an internal affairs investigation after officers went to the wrong apartment in a child pornography investigation.
At 6 a.m. on April 6, police entered the mixed-use building at 590 East St. searching for Timothy Yergeau in unit two under a search warrant. The document incorrectly instructed officers to go up two flights of stairs to an unmarked door.
Police body camera video shows officers breaking into a third-floor apartment and placing a woman in handcuffs and in a chair. About a minute and a half later, they released the cuffs once they realized they were one floor above the apartment in question.
“First, I want to say there's no excuse step we hit the wrong door. But it's very, very confusing,” said New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson.
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He explained that the building at the corner of East and State streets has multiple addresses for different units, including a pediatric dentistry office on the first floor.
The video goes on to show police casually talking with the woman in her apartment after she’s released from handcuffs. The whole incident took about five minutes.
“We're not happy that we hit the wrong door. But in watching the video, the officers and detectives did a great job talking to her and making it right,” Jacobson said.
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As officers were talking with the woman, several more were seen on video downstairs approaching Yergeau’s door, in search of evidence of child pornography that he allegedly exchanged between July and October 2022.
“It’s terrifying. I have three little kids,” said a neighbor who did not want to be identified. She saw police searching the building the morning of the raid. “I had no idea that any of this was going on so it’s definitely scary to hear.”
She says it was a shock to find out there were allegedly five videos of prepubescent boys and girls engaged in sexual acts allegedly shared between Yergeau and people in Middle Eastern countries.
“This is absolutely terrifying in your own community because I know so many kids that live in this community. It’s scary for sure,” she said, pointing out the building is also home to the pediatric dentist's office.
Jacobson doesn’t believe the error caused damage to the investigation, saying Yergeau was home when they arrived, and they collected evidence. He also said handcuffs are used often in these investigations because the types of electronic evidence they were searching for could be rigged to be deleted with a single button.
“We retrieved this information, but this still needed further investigation to arrest Mr. Yergeau,” Jacobson said. “He was left at his residence to which he was found the Monday after had committed suicide.”
The mayor and police chief say the woman says she has anxiety after the raid, and they’ve offered counseling through Clifford Beers.
“Understandably that it can be pretty traumatic when police department is all of a sudden in your apartment,” said Mayor Justin Elicker.
Jacobson added that what went on at Yergeau’s apartment regarding the child pornography continues to be part of an ongoing investigation.
“There could be further arrests,” Jacobson said. “That could be, you know, we're going to work with our part our federal partners and track back to where this was located. There's a lot to do with it.”
