A Massachusetts State Police trooper has been suspended with pay while officials investigate whether he played a role in the beating of a man during his arrest in New Hampshire this week, State Police officials said.
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The driver, 50-year-old Richard Simone of Worcester, who was wanted on multiple warrants, had led police on an hour-long chase from Holden in central MA to Nashua, N.H., police said. Footage from a news helicopter shows officers then setting upon him, pummeling him with punches.
This aerial image made from a helicopter video provided by WHDH shows Richard Simone kneeling and putting his hands on the ground after a high-speed police pursuit in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Governors from the two states have expressed concern, and Simone’s family has questioned the police officers’ conduct.
The trooper was relieved of duty Thursday.
It wasn’t immediately clear Friday if Simone has a lawyer.
Simone was wanted on multiple warrants for assault and battery with a unsafe weapon, larceny (the unlawful taking of another person’s property) and failure to stop for police, they said.
Massachusetts State Police said the trooper’s name will not be released because it is an internal personnel action.
The Massachusetts trooper is assigned to the Andover Barracks, is 32 years old and has been a member of the department since October 2011, according to state police.
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The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports he nearly rammed a police cruiser in a separate chase three days earlier in Millbury, Massachusetts, before driving onto Interstate 290.
