A New Haven police officer has been arrested and is accused of punching a handcuffed woman in the head twice while trying to take her into custody last year, according to an arrest warrant.
Officer Evan Kelly, 47, turned himself in to Connecticut State Police on Thursday and was charged with assault in the third degree.
On Oct. 18, 2025, at around 1:14 a.m., Kelly was assigned to a bar detail at Elm City Social in New Haven. The New Haven Police Department received a disturbance complaint at the bar involving an employee who had been fired for being intoxicated at work, the warrant stated.
Kelly arrested the woman and handcuffed her behind her back. Kelly asked for the woman’s ID, and she did not provide one. While he was bringing the woman to his cruiser, “she became non- compliant by attempting to pull away and turn her body,” according to the warrant.
Kelly then “forcefully placed” the woman against his cruiser. Kelly wrote the following in his police report:
“I felt her hands grabbing the front of my duty belt where my pistol magazines and pepper spray were located. 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,” the warrant stated.
He said that he told the woman, “Release me.” She did not comply, and he punched her on the left side of her head with his non-dominant left hand. Kelly then said that the woman tightened her grip on his pepper spray and tried to pull the Velcro lid. He then punched the woman a second time with his non-dominant left hand, according to the warrant.
The woman then released her grip on the pepper spray and Kelly was able to get her in the back seat of his cruiser. She was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital.
The woman was charged with breach of peace in the second degree, criminal mischief in the second degree, assault in the third degree, criminal trespass in the first degree, and interfering with an officer.
The warrant said two New Haven police supervisors reviewed body camera footage and determined Kelly’s use of force was excessive. He was placed on administrative leave in early January, according to the New Haven Police Department.
The incident was referred to the Connecticut State Police Central District Major Crime Unit for a criminal investigation. New Haven police also opened an internal affairs investigation.
Kelly was released on a written promise to appear and is scheduled to appear in New Haven Superior Court on Nov. 3 at 9 a.m.
