Former Connecticut Police Chief Arrested Over Alleged $85,000 Theft
The former cops chief in New Haven, Connecticut, was arrested Friday on larceny charges following allegations he stole $85,000 from 2 department accounts.
Karl Jacobson, 56, who quickly retired from the department in January, turned himself in on an arrest warrant. He was later launched on a court-set bond of $150,000, a state prosecutor stated in a news release. Jacobson faces two counts of larceny related to defrauding a public neighborhood.
"An accusation of embezzlement by a cops authorities is a severe matter and possibly weakens public self-confidence in the criminal justice system," Chief State's Attorney Patrick J. Griffin stated in a statement.
Jacobson's attorney, Gregory Cerritelli, stated he might not react to the particular accusations yet but reminded the general public that "an arrest is not evidence of guilt and accusations are not evidence."
"This is the beginning of a very long procedure," he stated in an emailed statement. "I advise everybody to keep an open mind and prevent a rush to judgment."
Last month, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, when announcing Jacobson's retirement, said the previous chief confessed he took cash from a city fund that compensates personal informants for helping police resolve criminal activities.
Elicker said the former chief acknowledged taking the funds for personal usage when 3 of his deputies confronted him over the monetary abnormalities. According to the arrest warrant, Jacobson informed the deputies he was investing excessive cash on sports wagering apps, was seeking assistance for a betting dependency and planned to replace the money.
During the tape-recorded conversation, Jacobson apologized and asked the deputies "for a chance to conserve myself" so he could avoid going to jail and losing his pension, according to the warrant.
Investigators determined that Jacobson wagered more than $4.4 million on his DraftKings and in between Jan. 1, 2025, and Jan. 5, 2026. He won more than $4.2 million but lost more than $214,000. Jacobson earned $180,000 a year as cops chief.
The mayor called the accusations "shocking" during a Friday news conference and said Jacobson initially confessed taking $10,000 from just one authorities account.
"We didn't know how deep this went," Elicker said, noting the case stays under investigation.
"It ´ s a very unfortunate day for the city to see a chief, who was cherished by many people, apprehended for a theft of public cash and likewise cash that was meant for kids," Elicker stated. Jacobson is accused of likewise taking money from the police athletic league, which supplies a variety of programs for the city's youth.
Jacobson had actually served for three years as authorities chief in one of Connecticut ´ s largest cities, which is home to Yale University. He took office in July 2022, just weeks after a Black man was disabled in the back of a cops van in an occurrence that roiled the police department and the city.
The state district attorney's office stated Friday the city of New Haven initially reported the embezzlement allegations on Jan. 5, which prompted an examination by the Connecticut State Police. The probe revealed $81,500 was unaccounted for or misused from the New Haven Police Department Narcotic Enforcement Fund between Jan. 1, 2024, and Jan. 5, 2026. Money from the fund is used to pay confidential informants who assist in narcotics examinations.
"The accused had access to money in that fund," according to a press release, which stated bank records revealed checks connected with the fund were transferred into Jacobson's individual monitoring account.
Two checks amounting to $4,000 were also withdrawn from the New Haven Police Activity League Fund between Dec. 23 and Dec. 24, 2025. The district attorney's office said both were discovered in Jacobson's personal account. Investigators stated no one else at the police department was associated with the matter.
Jacobson had actually been with the department for 15 years before being called chief. He previously served in the East Providence Police Department in Rhode Island for nine years.