By JAMES A. KIMBLE
A Salem police officer was
charged Wednesday with allegedly striking a 39-year-old Maine man in the head
with a flashlight and stepping on his hands after he was apprehended during a
police pursuit.
Joseph Freda, who joined the department
about a year-and-a-half ago, is facing two counts of simple assault for his
contact with Thomas Templeton, of York, Maine. State police charged Templeton
with reckless driving and disobeying a police officer after a pursuit that
ended in Salem shortly before 2:12 a.m. on Oct. 6.
Templeton is currently being
held at Rockingham County jail.
Salem police said in a
statement that they fully cooperated with the investigation and placed Freda on
unpaid administrative leave after their own internal investigation into the
matter. Freda is expected to have an administrative hearing regarding his job
status next week.
“The Salem Police Department
does not tolerate excessive use of force from its police officers,” Salem
Deputy Police Chief Shawn Patten said in the statement. “The Salem Police
Department has long-standing policies and procedures in place providing
guidance for our officers.”
Patten said the department’s 62
full-time officers receive mandatory, comprehensive training, including arrest
procedures and acceptable use of force. That training happens on an ongoing
basis, the department said.
Freda’s arrest comes just days
after a YouTube video showed a Seabrook police officer slamming a suspect’s
face into a wall, which set off a criminal investigation into alleged police
brutality in the 2009 incident. (See related story, Page A5.) In Salem, the
investigation into Freda began Oct. 22 when the New Hampshire State Police
notified the state Attorney General’s Office about the injuries Templeton
suffered during his arrest. Templeton was sitting on the ground in handcuffs
when he was allegedly struck and had his hands stepped on, according to state
investigators.
Freda’s lawyer, Donald Blaszka,
said late Wednesday that his client plans to enter a not-guilty plea in 10th
Circuit Court in Salem within the next few days. Blaszka said he has yet to
receive police reports and other materials collected from the investigation.
“Once we receive that
information, we will review it thoroughly and prepare my client’s defense,”
Blaszka said.
Associate Attorney General Jane
Young said her office is now looking into other incidents involving Freda.
A 21-year-old man was sentenced
to a year in jail for assault last May for attempting to take Freda’s gun and
breaking his hand while the two struggled during a November 2012 arrest. Freda
struck the man in the face during the scuffle while trying to keep his gun from
being taken.
“When gathering the facts,
reviewing a past case like that would fall under the scope of that investigation,”
Young said.
Freda also drew at least one
complaint while on duty as a police officer in Brookline prior to accepting a
job in Salem, according to court records. Resident Sharon Ryherd, who was
arrested in June 2009, complained about Freda’s conduct when she was arrested
for disobeying a police officer, resisting arrest and reckless operation. The
charges were later dropped to non-criminal violations and Ryherd paid fines,
court records say.
Freda is scheduled for his
arraignment on Feb. 24 in 10th Circuit Court in Salem
