Footage from a high-speed chase spanning from Massachusetts to New Hampshire shows at least two officers repeatedly and violently punching the driver, even though he appeared to surrender by dropping to all fours.
The incident occurred on Wednesday when Richard Simone, 50, of Worcester, Massachusetts, led police to a one-hour long chase from Holden, Massachusetts to a dead end street in Nashua, New Hampshire, where spike stripes put an end to his run.
In the aerial video shot by news helicopters, Simone is seen exiting his pickup truck, kneeling down and placing his hands on his head, before at least two officers started punching him. The other officers, who appear to be from different agencies, then quickly moved on to him.
Witnesses collaborated what was seen in the video. “He wasn’t putting up a fight. He got out and they were attacking him and I don’t know what he did. Obviously they weren’t happy, but, I mean, he wasn’t fighting them, so it was a little bit much I think,” witness Melissa Oquendo told WBZ-TV.
According to Massachusetts State Police, the driver was wanted on charges for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, larceny, and failure to stop for police.
Authorities on Thursday announced that one New Hampshire state trooper and one Massachusetts state trooper were removed from active duty pending an investigation, without releasing their names.
A spokesman for the N.H. State Police told ABC News that the officer in question has been relieved without pay, in response to the incident. “The New Hampshire State Police does not condone the unauthorized use of force,” he said, adding that “the public trust must never be compromised.”
Massachusetts State Police issued a similar statement saying the “actions taken by a trooper from our department and other officers involved in yesterday’s apprehension of suspect Richard Simone in Nashua, N.H. –- as those actions appear in news footage of the arrest -– are, upon initial review, disturbing.”
Joseph Foster, the New Hampshire attorney general, said Thursday that his office has commenced a criminal investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding Wednesday’s incident to “determine if the force utilized by any of the police officers violated any provisions of the criminal code”. Foster added that “Colonel Robert Quinn of the New Hampshire State Police, Colonel Richard McKeon of the Massachusetts State Police and Chief Andrew Lavoie of the Nashua Police Department have assured their agencies’ fullest cooperation with the investigation.”