A Massachusetts and a New Hampshire state trooper were each suspended on Thursday while authorities review their roles in a videotaped beating of a driver who refused to pull over the day before.
The unidentified New Hampshire officer has been “relieved from duty” without pay, a police spokesman said, while the state police and Attorney General Joseph A. Foster investigate the pummeling of Richard Simone after an hourlong car chase from Holden, Massachusetts to Nashua, New Hampshire.
“All of his state issued equipment has been retrieved, including his firearm, badge and cruiser and he has no law enforcement authority,” the spokesman said.
The Massachusetts trooper, who hasn’t been named either, will face an internal hearing Friday that will determine “whether the department places him on a modified duty status for the duration of the investigation,” according to a statement from Col. Richard McKeon.
In the footage recorded by news helicopters, at least two officers appeared to hit 50-year-old Simone with their hands after he emerged from his pickup truck on his hands and knees. Simone received medical treatment after his arrest.
“The actions taken by a trooper from our department and other officers involved in yesterday’s apprehension of [Simone] as those actions appear in news footage of the arrest – are, upon initial review, disturbing,” McKeon said in his statement.
At least six other officers, some with weapons drawn, circled Simone, who’d allegedly threatened to ram his truck into a police cruiser in Millbury, Massachusetts, on Sunday, The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.
“The events of Wednesday evening are disturbing,” New Hampshire State Police Director Col. Robert Quinn said in a statement.
Holden police tried to pull over Simone, who was wanted on warrants for burglary and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to authorities. The chase involved multiple police departments, but so far authorities have declined to identify which departments were present for Simone’s capture.
UPDATE: May 13 ― During a Friday hearing, the Massachusetts trooper involved in the videotaped beating incident was ordered suspended with pay for the duration of the investigation into the arrest. According to the Massachusetts State Police, the trooper, who remains unidentified, is 32 years old and has been a member of the force since 2011.
Matt Ferner contributed to reporting.