OAN Brooke Mallory
UPDATED 2:23 PM – Monday, April 17, 2023
A former director of Planned Parenthood committed suicide last Tuesday while being probed by authorities for child pornography.
The local press reported that Tim Yergeau, 36, was discovered dead in his New Haven, Connecticut, apartment on Tuesday, five days after police botched a raid that was intended to target his residence but in which they knocked down the wrong door.
“The person who died was definitely the suspect in a child pornography investigation and the person who committed suicide,” said New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson.
Yergeau’s electronic gadgets were examined by police, thanks to their search warrant, although he was not detained during the police raid.
“It was an open investigation, so he knew he was going to be arrested,” Jacobson said.
Prior to his passing away, Yergeau was the director of strategic communications for the Planned Parenthood of Southern New England in New Haven, Connecticut.
However, at the time of his death, he had been recently hired at the Long Wharf Theatre, a free public library foundation.
On his social media, Yergeau was very vocal about supporting LGBTQ+ rights and progressive issues. Yergeau shared an image of rainbow-adorned Planned Parenthood buttons on Instagram. In another post, Yergeau was wearing a t-shirt that read “Bans Off Our Bodies,” a consistent pro-abortion talking point.
In 2018, Yergeau posted online saying, “Excited to announce that today I start a new job on the marketing/communications team at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. Excited to be working on issues I’m passionate about: healthcare access, reproductive and sexual health, diversity and inclusion, civic engagement, and voting rights.”
Before realizing their error, police had smashed down his neighbor’s door and handcuffed a woman when they arrived to serve a search warrant at Yergeau’s flat.
“I started running down the hallway, it was just like a movie. They had guns and flashlights on me,” said Yergeau’s neighbor, Stacey Wezenter. “They put me against the wall and handcuffed me. I was crying and saying, ‘What’s happening?’”
Officers moved through the rooms of her residence and kept asking her where the man was.
Wezenter’s 20-year-old and 4-year-old daughters were there when police had conducted a search of their home, claiming that each time she walks down her hallway, she now has PTSD and is forced to relive the incident.
“What if I had a gun permit? What if I came down the hallway with a gun? Would I have gotten shot? What if my 4-year-old had woken up? Would they have shot him?” Wezenter said Wednesday. “You just don’t do that to people.”
New Haven police apologized and stated that they were utilizing internal affairs investigators to look into how the confusion happened.
“Unfortunately, a mistake was made… We feel for the woman and we’re going to do everything we can to make it right,” said Police Chief Jacobson.
“The investigation is part of holding my department accountable and transparent,” he continued.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn the developments of the last 24 hours… Given the difficult news, it would be inappropriate to comment further,” said a spokesperson for the Long Wharf Theatre.
According to reports, police stated that because there are two ongoing investigations into the situation, they will not yet release the search warrant application or provide details about what was discovered at Yergeau’s apartment until they are certain that there are no additional suspects.
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