Troopers Suspended After Car Chase Ends in Beating

NASHUA, N.H. (CN) - Two New England state troopers are suspended without pay after helicopter news footage caught two officers striking the suspect of a high-speed, multistate car chase as he surrendered.

The violent arrest capped the end of Wednesday's pursuit of 50-year-old suspect Richard Simone as he led officers on an hour-long chase from Holden, Mass., to a dead end street 42 miles away in a Nashua, N.H., neighborhood.

Video posted by the Washington Post shows Simone slowly exiting his car as about half a dozen Massachusetts State Police, New Hampshire State Police and Nashua Police Department officers swarm him with raised weapons and a restrained dog.

As he surrenders by dropping down on all fours, two officers punch him in the upper and lower body at least eight times. Several local news stations were airing the incident live.

Massachusetts State Police Col. Richard D. McKeon released a statement calling the actions in the video "disturbing," and said he relieved the Massachusetts trooper involved without pay pending an investigation "to determine whether relevant policies, procedures, rules and regulations of our department — including those governing the use of force — were followed by our personnel."

New Hampshire State Police Director Robert Quinn likewise called the footage "disturbing" in announcing his department had also relieved a state trooper without pay and launched their own internal investigation.

In addition, both agencies and the Nashua Police Department are cooperating in New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster's separate criminal investigation into the use of force during the arrest.

Simone appeared in a Nashua courtroom Thursday morning with swelling under his left eye and a bloodied left ear, according to the Boston Herald. He waived his right to an extradition hearing and will be brought back to Massachusetts to face multiple charges.

In a statement released on Thursday, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan said the Foster's excessive force investigation is "important and appropriate," while adding that "we must treat this incident 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."

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