State Trooper’s Use Of Chokehold In Wallingford Justified: Inspector General

WALLINGFORD, CT — A Connecticut State Trooper’s use of a chokehold while taking a man into custody in a 2023 incident on I-91 in Wallingford was deemed to be justified, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General.

Connecticut Inspector General Robert J. Devlin Jr. released a report Wednesday regarding “police-involved use of force” during an incident on I-91 in Wallingford on May 13, 2023.

State Trooper Joshua Wedge applied a chokehold to Ira Turner, 35, while he was being taken into custody near the Exit 15 on-ramp following a domestic incident, according to Devlin.

State law requires the Office of the Inspector General to investigate the use of “deadly force.”

Devlin said the investigation found that Wedge briefly used a chokehold on Turner to force Turner to end the chokehold that he was applying to State Trooper Brandon Poirer.

“I find that Trooper Wedge’s use of such force was objectively reasonable and reasonably necessary to defend Trooper Poirier from the use of deadly force against him,” Devlin wrote in the report. “It was also justified by Connecticut State Police policy. Such use of a chokehold, however, appears to be contrary to the provisions of Connecticut General Statutes §53a-22(d) that permits the use of a chokehold to defend oneself from deadly force but does not authorize the use of a chokehold to defend a third party. On the full record of this case, however, I do not believe that Trooper Wedge’s use of force was unjustified.”

Devlin also wrote that while Wedge’s use of the chokehold was justified, it was “contrary to the wording” of the state law that allows the use of a chokehold to defend oneself, but “makes no mention of defense of a third party.”

“One wonders if this omission was intentional,” Devlin wrote. “As written, the statute would permit a trooper to shoot a suspect to defend a third party, but not permit the trooper to apply a chokehold. It is hard to imagine that the legislature intended such a result. Given this confusion in the law, I do not believe that §53a-22 should be construed in such a way as to deem Trooper Wedge’s actions unjustified. Clarification of the statute by the legislature seems warranted.”

Read the full report here.