Former Hamden cop Devin Eaton.
Former Hamden Police Officer Devin Eaton entered a written plea of no contest Thursday to one count of first-degree assault two years after he opened fire on Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon.
In the early morning of April 16, 2019, Hamden cop Eaton and Yale cop Terrence Pollack opened fire on Witherspoon and Washington in a car in Newhallville. Washington was hospitalized. The shooting — based on a false report of an armed robbery and a false assumption that Witherspoon had a gun — spurred police accountability protests in Hamden and kicked off an ongoing conversation about how to reform the town’s police department and the checks on it.
Eaton’s attorney, Gregory Cerritelli, said Eaton “never said the words guilty” while entering the written plea agreement through New Haven Judicial Court. Instead, it was technically a plea of nolo contendre, meaning he’s not accepting blame but he is accepting punishment.
He is scheduled for sentencing on April 8. Under terms of a plea deal, Eaton faces five years in prison, suspended after 18 months, followed by three years’ probation, according to a release from the chief state’s attorney’s office. “Eaton retains the right to argue to the Court at the time of sentencing for a departure from the maximum exposure, based upon the results of a pre-sentence investigation and any mitigating evidence he may present,” the release stated. New Haven State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin prosecuted the case in conjunction with Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa D’Angelo; the State Police Central District Major Crime Squad oversaw the investigation, which cleared Officer Pollack of wrongdoing.
Update: Hamden announced Thursday night that Officer Eaton is expected to resign from the police force by the end of Friday.
Thomas Breen Photo
2019 protest at Hamden PD over shooting.
Kerry Ellington, an organizer of protests calling for action against Eaton, called the fact that Eaton now can’t work as a police officer again “a win for our movement to defund police departments and the abolition of policing. A police officer who behaved violently will no longer be able to police in any community.”
“It’s important to acknowledge the movement that made this happen. So many communities came together to organize, to hold direct action, to protest in the streets to go to community meetings, to see this officer to be fired, to call for justice,” Ellington said. She decried the fact that “this took so long. This officer used a massive amount of violence, violated policies and procedures. It shouldn’t take so long to decide this matter, but it did, and this demonstrates the complicity of government, on all levels, with police violence. Stephanie and Paul have had to live with this trauma and harm every day since April 16th, 2019, and Eaton has yet to face any real consequences from the state or local jurisdiction. Hamden Police Commission should fire Eaton immediately, the state police should decertify Eaton immediately, and his pension should be revoked.”
Where are all the people who defended the police shootings in this incident now?
Firing weapons was clearly not appropriate, despite the rush to judgment so many made.