A report by the state Office of Inspector General has found no criminal wrongdoing by Norwich police in the death of Brenton Chambers, who died while in a Norwich police holding cell on Feb. 4, 2022.

The report , which was released Tuesday, found that Chambers died of an accidental fentanyl/heroin overdose, drugs he apparently had stored in hidden pockets in his clothing. The report though does not address whether police or emergency medical personnel used naloxone, to reverse the effects of the opiates.

The circumstances of Chambers’ death had been the subject of a year-long investigation by the Office of Inspector General with assistance by the state police Central District Major Crime Squad, in part to determine whether there was anything criminal wrongdoing by police.

An inspection of Chambers’ clothing revealed two “secret pockets,” the report stated.

“The investigation establishes that Brenton Chambers’ death was due to acute fentanyl intoxication, ” Inspector General Robert J. Devlin, Jr. wrote in his conclusion. “Such death was not due to the result of any physical force used against him by a peace officer or any other criminal action. Accordingly, there is no cause to refer this matter for potential prosecution. The Office of Inspector General will take no further action on this matter.”

Norwich Police Chief Patrick Daley was not available Tuesday evening for comment on the report.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had previously ruled Chambers’ death accidental and caused by “acute fentanyl intoxication with recent cocaine use.” Questions had remained, however, about how Chambers had obtained the drugs that led to his death.

Devlin, in an annual report released last month, had recommended that police agencies mitigate the risks of an in-custody overdose death by replacing the clothing of an individual while they are in custody.

Devlin’s report did not address the opioid reversal drug naloxone, widely used to treat overdose victims. Testimonies by officers involved in responding to Chambers described pulling him out of the cell and performing CPR until the ambulance crew arrived, with no mention of whether the overdose reversal drug was administered.

There is no state requirement and no policy at the Norwich Police Department for officers to carry or administer naloxone. It is unclear from videos of Chambers’ last minutes of life whether or not police or responding emergency medical personnel used naloxone.

Chambers was taken into custody by Norwich police at 4:20 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2022 after he first was handcuffed behind his back and detained by probation officers in a vehicle while officers searched Chambers’ vehicle. Probation officers transported Chambers to his apartment for another search, the report stated. A third search of Chambers’ business, Juiceman’s Cloud City, at 1 Jewett City Road, Taftville, across the street from his residence, also was conducted. Probation officers allegedly located 15 suspected fentanyl pills at the business.

He was on probation at the time and allegedly found to be in possession of a handgun and a quantity of fentanyl or heroin prepacked for sale.

Following the search, Probation Officer Michael Sullivan told Norwich Police Officer Elizabeth Harsley that Chambers was under arrest and could be transported to Norwich Police Department, the report stated. Harsley did not search Chambers, but had asked Sullivan if he had searched Chambers.

“Sullivan stated that all of Chambers’ items had been removed at the probation office,” the report said. “Harsley transported Chambers to the NPD without incident.”

A video of Chambers arrest is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k5fNFG6zvw

During the booking process, prior to being placed in a cell, officers searched Chambers and had him remove his jewelry, a string from his sweatshirt and watch as he removes his sweatshirt, a button down flannel shirt and a t-shirt. The video shows Chambers is allowed to put his sweatshirt back on and never removes his sweatpants.

A video of Chambers’ booking is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lchMwAwMynA

The report states that at the Norwich police station, officers Joel Grispino and Elizabeth Harsley searched Chambers. At that time, they noticed that Chambers had a swollen ankle. The report said Chambers told them that his ankle was sore from being wedged into the bottom of the probation vehicle’s prisoner compartment.

American Ambulance arrived at 6:06 p.m. and took Chambers to Backus Hospital, and at 7:30 p.m., Officer Zack Desmond was directed to pick up Chambers at Backus and the officer who had accompanied him there. Chambers walked out wearing a boot on his left foot. At the Norwich police station, officers escorted Chambers to the booking area.

The video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_UWt35bkNQ

Norwich police dispatcher Rachael Willey and desk officer Sarabeth Hanyckj observed Chambers through the night. The report said Willey observed Chambers leaning forward with his elbows on his knees falling asleep. Willey and Hanyckyj continually watched Chambers for fear that he might fall forward and hit his head, the report said.

“Sometime prior to 4:00 a.m., Willey went to the restroom and, when she returned, Hanyckyj informed her that Chambers appeared to be ‘acting funny,’” the report said. “Willey believed that Chambers was having a seizure. Hanyckyj grabbed a medical kit and went to check on Chambers. Willey called the department’s report room and notified Officer Christine Ramos that she needed to check on the prisoner.”

Hanyckyj called Willey and requested an ambulance, because Chambers “was unresponsive and without a pulse,” the report said.

Chambers died about eight hours after his return from the hospital. A video of the last minutes of his life, which is graphic, shows Chambers on a metal bench in his cell at 3:39 a.m. He had labored breathing and his head is nodding. Chambers can be seen on video gasping for breath and collapsing backwards, his head striking the cinder block wall. Chambers goes into convulsions while still lying on the bench and is not moving by 3:47 a.m. Two officers arrive in the cell at 3:48 a.m.

“My Man, Hello,“ one officer says to Chambers while checking his pulse. The officers move Chambers to the floor, drag him outside the cell where officers continue to try and wake him up.

“Wake up,“ one officer says, ”Hey bud.“

One officer can be heard reporting to someone on the phone, that Chambers has ”a faint pulse.“ But Chambers is not breathing and three minutes later one officer starts to perform CPR. Medics arrive at 3:56 a.m. The view from the video camera is partially obscured and it is unclear from the video if naloxone is administered.

“At 3:11 a.m., Chambers reaches into the front pocket of his hoodie and at several points prior to 3:37 a.m., he turns so that the camera only shows his back, Devlin wrote in his analysis. ”He could have put something into his mouth at these times. The powerful and overwhelming physical reaction he experienced (and that the camera records) is strong evidence of his reaction to a fentanyl overdose. I believe that, in combination, these facts support a reasonable inference that Chambers was able to ingest fentanyl while in cell #5 shortly before his death.“

The Inspector General’s Office was created in in 2021 by the General Assembly as an outgrowth of the Police Accountability Act passed in 2020. The office is tasked with investigating police-related shootings and use-of-force incidents that result in death as well as investigations into deaths that occur when an individual is in the custody of police or the Department of Correction. The investigations previously were conducted by the local judicial district’s state’s attorney’s office.

Chambers was one of three people who died in police custody in Connecticut in 2022. Other deaths occurred at the South Windsor and Manchester police departments.

The inspector general’s office is tasked with investigating whether an officer’s use of physical force was justified or, as in the case of Chambers, “whether the death was the result of criminal activity.”

Along with the in-custody deaths at police departments, there were 73 deaths reported by the state Department of Correction to the Office of Inspector General between Oct. 8, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2022, the OIG report shows. Thirty of those deaths were people on parole and not investigated by the OIG.

The remaining deaths involved people in prison or in a halfway house. Of those 43 deaths, 23 were from natural causes, nine from suspected drug overdoses and five from suspected suicides ― all hangings. One was undetermined at the time the OIG’s report was released.

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