SEABROOK — Two Seabrook police officers were
fired Wednesday and two others disciplined in connection with a 2009 assault on
a prisoner that was caught on police station surveillance video and released
earlier this year.
Officer Mark Richardson and Officer Adam
Laurent were fired for excessive force while Officer Keith Dietenhofer was
suspended for two days without pay and Lt. John Wasson was demoted to
patrolman.
The disciplinary action was announced Wednesday
during a news conference at Town Hall. It coincided with the release of an
independent report on the incident by Municipal Resources Inc. of Meredith.
Town Manager William Manzi said the report was
conducted to determine whether department policies were followed on Nov. 11,
2009, after the arrest of Michael Bergeron Jr.
“The actions today … represent the consensus
view of the chief, myself and the Board of Selectmen,” Manzi said of the
firings and other punishments.
The video shows Richardson slam Bergeron, then
19, into a wall in a police station hallway. Bergeron is then seen struggling
to stand up and gain his balance before falling down. Laurent then sprayed him
in the face with pepper spray then appeared to smile into the surveillance
camera.
The incident was captured on a Police Department
surveillance camera and released to Bergeron's attorney nearly four years ago
in response to a formal request for the footage. It was posted to YouTube Jan.
6.
Bergeron was arrested at about 10:30 p.m. on
Nov. 11, 2009, and charged with driving while intoxicated and drug possession.
He was booked and processed at the Seabrook police station and was being led to
a holding cell when the incident took place.
According to the report, Richardson, who stands
6-feet 6-inches tall and weighs nearly 300 pounds, claimed he was in fear of
Bergeron, who weighs close to 145 pounds, when the incident took place. He also
claimed he was only trying to get a better grip on the prisoner when he slammed
him into the wall.
Investigators determined Laurent also used excessive
force when he sprayed a stunned Bergeron in the face as he lay on the floor.
The level of force shown on the video would not
be justified under any circumstances, Police Chief Lee Bitomske said Wednesday.
The town's investigation found Laurent and
Dietenhofer filed supplemental reports about the incident that included key
omissions. For instance, Dietenhofer apparently revised his report to delete
reference to Richardson's “arm bar” maneuver against Bergeron.
Wasson was not in the station when the incident
took place. However, investigators found he was aware of Richardson's “arm bar”
against Bergeron but failed to require an additional review of that use of
force as mandated by department rules.
Bitomske characterized the incident and
subsequent investigation as a “dark cloud” for the department that exposed the
need for revised protocols and better training to prevent a repeat incident.
“In this job, no matter how much training you
have, situations do happen, good and bad,” said Bitomske, who was appointed
chief after the 2009 incident. “We just take from this and learn what we can do
to try to better train the officers.”
Attorney Joseph McKittrick, who represents
Seabrook, said the disciplinary action announced Wednesday makes clear the town
won't tolerate police misconduct.
Richardson was placed on paid leave in January.
He was placed on unpaid leave in April after a Rockingham County grand jury
indicted him for simple assault in connection with this incident. The N.H.
Attorney General's Office is prosecuting this case and attempts Wednesday to
determine where it stands were not successful.
The grand jury declined to indict Laurent. He
and Dietenhofer have been on paid leave since January.
Bergeron was convicted in April of a 2013
burglary in Hampton and is serving a 1- to 3-year sentence in N.H. State
Prison.
His mother, Joyce Bergeron, attended
Wednesday's news conference. She thanked town officials for their efforts to
find out what happened to her son. She described the release of the report and
the actions against the officers as a relief.
She said her son decided to post the video in
January because he was worried another person would be treated the same way by
Seabrook police.
“It just bothered him for all these years,” she
said.
