Former New Haven police chief pleads not guilty to embezzlement charges
Former New Haven police chief Karl Jacobson has pleaded not guilty to charges that accuse him of embezzling more than $85,000 from his own department.
He appeared in court on Friday morning and has been elected for a jury trial.
This all unraveled in January when an investigation into missing money led to his retirement. Now he’s facing two counts of larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community.
Jacobson allegedly admitted to stealing money from a New Haven Police fund, retired, and later turned himself in to Connecticut State Police.
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In the arrest warrant, investigators say the bulk of the money was stolen from the confidential informant fund, as well as the New Haven Police Activity League, over the past two years.
Jacobson also said he was spending too much money on gambling, for which he was seeking help and a loan, according to an arrest warrant. He also said that he intended to replace the misused funds.
The warrant stated that Jacobson returned the money he took from the Police Activity League Fund and called the league’s executive director, saying: “he was sorry for letting the police department down, letting him down, and letting PAL down.”
When Acting Chief David Zannelli asked how long Jacobson had been spending too much on gambling, Jacobson said, “It had gotten worse over the past couple of months,” the arrest warrant stated.
He said in part: “…it is not that I’m a bad person. I have a problem. I fixed my alcohol problem. I turned to gambling. I don’t know why it just got worse recently.”
Jacobson used gambling apps on his phone, according to the warrant.
His next court appearance will be on June 2 in New Haven.
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