A Torrance police officer who at one time faced a criminal charge in the shooting death of a Black man inside a parked car has been reinstated within the department, months after the politically charged criminal case against him was dismissed.
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Matthew Concannon — who was on administrative leave in connection to the Dec. 9, 2018, death of 23-year-old Christopher DeAndre Mitchell — returned this month to active duty within the Torrance Police Department, to serve as a sergeant in the department’s patrol bureau, according to department officials.
The shooting became a local focal point for Black Lives Matter activists, leading to repeated protests at Torrance City Council meetings following Mitchell’s death. The case also bounced around with prosecutors, with one Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office administration declining to file charges, a second moving to prosecute Concannon and his partner, and a third dismissing the case.
Matt Murphy, an attorney who represented Concannon in the earlier criminal proceedings, said the sergeant is “back at work because he is a model police officer and was exonerated of all wrongdoing. …
“This case had three and a half years of judicial process … and it was ultimately dismissed because our client (Concannon) is innocent,” Murphy said. “Both (former Los Angeles District Attorney) Jackie Lacy and (current Los Angeles District Attorney) Nathan Hochman should be commended for their commitment to justice for everyone, including police officers.”
“Now our client just wants to put this nightmare behind him and continue to serve his community,” Murphy added.
According to a review of the case conducted by the District Attorney’s Office in 2019, a motorist flagged down officers around 8 p.m. on Dec. 9, 2018, near 220th Street and Western Avenue, to report his car, a black Honda Civic, had been stolen. The vehicle was spotted on surveillance video a short time later at a Ralphs parking lot on Carson Street.
Concannon and fellow Officer Anthony Chavez used their patrol car to block the Honda from leaving, and confronted Mitchell, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of the Honda, demanding he place his hands on the steering wheel.
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Mitchell dropped his hands into his lap, where Concannon saw what he believed was a firearm but turned out later to be a modified air rifle. Concannon drew his gun and Mitchell returned his hands to the wheel, apologized and then dropped his hands again, according to the report. The officers fired three shots — one by Concannon and two by Chavez.
Mitchell’s mother, Sherlyn Haynes, accused the officers of murdering her son and often joined protestors in filling Torrance City Council meetings.
In 2020, then-District Attorney Lacey’s office declined to file charges against the officers, determining they were justified in using deadly force.
Three years later, then-District Attorney George Gascon reopened a probe into the shooting and ultimately filed a voluntary manslaughter charge against each officer, which carried a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison.
Current District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s office took another look at the case and opted to drop the charges, saying it was a split-second decision by the officers and prosecutors would not be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The charges were formally dismissed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in April.
Department officials did not comment on why Concannon wasn’t reinstated until more than three months after the charges were dropped. Chavez is reportedly no longer with the department.
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