Posted by Kyle Stucker
A Salem police officer could
face up to five years in prison for allegedly using a flashlight to beat and
draw blood from a handcuffed high-speed chase suspect before intentionally
stepped on one of the man's cuffed hands, according to the Eagle-Tribune.
Officer Joseph Freda, 33, of
Salem, was arrested this week on two counts of misdemeanor simple assault
months after he was placed on paid administrative leave due to a New Hampshire
Attorney General's Office investigation into Freda's actions while arresting
Thomas Templeton, 39, of York, Maine, on Oct. 6.
Freda is now on unpaid
administrative leave.
The Eagle-Tribune has reported
that several police reports pertaining to Templeton's arrest have been
released. The reports describe a series of injuries to Templeton, as well as an
exchange that featured Freda swearing at Templeton after Templeton accused
Freda of hitting him.
"Yeah, I [expletive] hit
you," reads the report filed by Salem Officer Robert Kirley.
The Nashua Telegraph has
reported that Freda has been accused of excessive force before. In 2009, a
Brookline resident claimed Freda, then a Brookline officer, used excessive
force and charged her with a crime without cause following a traffic stop.
Senior Assistant New Hampshire
Attorney General Jane Young, the Salem incident's lead investigator, couldn't
be reached for comment Wednesday or Thursday about the case.
Salem police officials also
couldn't be reached for comment, although the department has said in a release
that it "does not tolerate excessive use of force from its Police
Officers."
