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."
[Read the full Eagle-Tribune story here, and read the full Nashua Telegraph story here.]
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