Police officers are under review after a multi-state car chase that began in Massachusetts on Wednesday afternoon ended in a violent arrest.
News helicopters hovering over the final moments of the pursuit in Nashua, New Hampshire, captured video of uniformed law enforcement officers throwing punches at the suspect as he knelt on the ground next to his pickup truck, his hands on the asphalt in front of him.
The takedown played out live on some local news stations.
“We will conduct a separate departmental review of the actual apprehension, as the video captured by news helicopters shows a use of force against the suspect,” said Dave Procopio, spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police, one of the agencies involved in the arrest.
“This review will investigate whether the level of force used was appropriate given the totality of the circumstances,” Procopio said.
New Hampshire’s attorney general is conducting a criminal investigation.
Gov. Maggie Hassan said in a statement that the footage “raises serious concerns” and the incident is being treated “with the utmost seriousness without disparaging all of the hard-working police officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe.”
The chase began just after 4 p.m. in Holden, Massachusetts, after local police attempted to stop a man “known to them to be the subject of multiple warrants,” Procopio said.
When the suspect, identified as 50-year-old Richard Simone, refused to pull over, Holden Police began a pursuit.
Massachusetts State police cruisers soon joined in.
Simone, who was wanted for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, larceny, and a previous instance of failure to stop for police, “continued making abrupt lane changes” as he “continued to try to evade capture,” Procopio said.
Many turns and some 50 miles later, Simone raced over the Tyngsborough Bridge, and soon after, the state line.
Local and state police in New Hampshire joined the pursuit before Simone at last pulled over in a residential neighborhood of Nashua, nearly an hour after the chase had begun.
Several police officers, some with their guns drawn and one restraining a dog, encircled Simone as he crawled out of his car, the news helicopter video shows.
At least two law enforcement officers can be seen repeatedly punching the suspect as he lay on ground. It was not immediately clear which agencies the offending officers were from.
Procopio said the state police are “reviewing the actions of our own personnel.”
“We had troopers present at the end of the pursuit and we believe one of the officers involved on the actual apprehension is a member of our department,” he said. “We would not make a conclusive statement on that until we can get into our internal investigation. What our people did is the subject of our internal investigation.”
Simone was taken into custody and booked by Nashua Police, Procopio said. He will face charges on the underlying warrants and also new charges relating to the car chase on Wednesday, according to Procopio.
Nashua Police did not respond to a request for comment. A press officer for the state police in New Hampshire directed questions about the apprehension to the state’s attorney general’s office.
