The town will soon confirm the
names of the three suspended police officers and provide additional statements
about the investigation.
Posted by Kyle Stucker (Editor
Seabrook Town Manager Bill
Manzi will issue a new statement Wednesday afternoon about the investigation
into three officers suspended due to alleged police brutality against a local
teen, and the names of the officers are expected to be released at that time.
Manzi will meet with the
Seabrook Board of Selectmen in a non-public session at 1 p.m., after which he
said he will hold a short press conference. He declined to release or confirm
the names of the officers before that session, even though other media outlets
have obtained that information through a police report detailing the events of the
Nov. 11, 2009, arrest that have led Michael Bergeron Jr. to make his police
brutality claims.
The police report, which
reportedly characterizes a then-19 Bergeron as combative and aggressive, was
released to certain outlets by the Seabrook Police Department either Tuesday
night or Wednesday morning, although Patch was unable to obtain the report.
Seabrook Deputy Police Chief
Mike Gallagher said the report is no longer available because the New Hampshire
Attorney General's Office has requested that the documents no longer be
released.
Senior Assistant Attorney
General Jane Young said her office won't release the report "because this
is an ongoing criminal investigation" that she said could be compromised
by the continued release of the documents.
Young confirmed that her office
is conducting a criminal investigation into the three officers and that her
office is working to "determine whether there was any type of criminal
conduct on behalf of anybody" in connection to the incident, although she
said her office won't release the documents because it has a duty to protect
all parties involved and to protect the integrity of the investigation.
No charges have yet been filed
against any parties involved.
"We are looking at all of
the facts and circumstances," said Young, later adding that she
"cannot make [a] prediction" about the length of the investigation.
The Union Leader has published
excerpts of Bergeron's arrest report, which names Officers Mark Richardson and
Adam Laurent as two of the individuals shown in a YouTube video that has now
gone viral.
Richardson is reportedly the
officer who used an "armbar" to allegedly bring Bergeron to the
floor. The surveillance video posted by Bergeron appears to show Richardson
forcing Bergeron face-first into a cinderblock wall using his arm.
Laurent is identified as the
officer who used pepper spray to subdue Bergeron while Bergeron was already on
the floor. The Union Leader reports that Bergeron was pepper-sprayed because of
"prior spitting and failure to comply" with officers while Bergeron
was "on an emotional rollercoaster."