NEW HAVEN, Conn — The New Haven Police Department's busy first two months of 2021 continues. Monday, the department was called out to investigate two unrelated incidents, which included three untimely deaths.
After spending all morning investigating the case of a dead person discovered in East Rock Park, police were called downtown to a mixed-use building, where someone had just made a shocking discovery.
Just after 4 o'clock, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner arrived at 200 College St. to claim two bodies of employees of a local restaurant.
"Our officers responded to a 911 call at approximately 12:03 today of two unresponsive males," said Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson.
These men were found inside storage space in a parking garage that's associated with the restaurant they worked for.
"And, there was also a third possible victim, who was suffering from a possible drug overdose," Jacobson said.
Thankfully, that victim was able to walk to a waiting ambulance with the assistance of some first responders.
"The (third) victim was transported to the hospital and at this time we believe will survive," Jacobson added.
Police do not suspect foul play in the deaths of the other two men, which also may be drug-related.
"The gentlemen in there we believe were in their mid to late 50s," the Assistant Chief said of the deceased victims.
All three men were employees of the same restaurant.
Early this morning, New Haven Police responded to Farnam Drive, near East Rock Road, along the base of East Rock Park. A deceased male was discovered along the side of the road. Jacobson calls the death suspicious.
"The autopsy will be later this afternoon or tomorrow morning and we will release more information at that time," he said.
Jacobson would not discuss whether there were any visible wounds on the East Rock Park.
"But I will say it doesn’t appear that that person if they were killed, was killed in that location," he noted.
And he says that death does not appear to be drug-related.
"We would say to people thinking about using drugs in the area to use extreme caution until we can figure out what this is."
During the summer of 2018, there were nearly 120 drug overdoses in a span of 36 hours here in New Haven.