Mass. State Trooper Indicted In Violent Arrest Of Driver
NASHUA, N.H. (CBS) -- A Massachusetts State Police Trooper involved in a violent arrest following a police chase through Massachusetts and New Hampshire in May was indicted by the State of New Hampshire on a charge of simple assault Tuesday.
Trooper Joseph Flynn, 32, is charged with assault in connection to the beating of driver Richard Simone on May 11.
Simone, 50, of Worcester, was arrested after leading police on a one-hour chase from Holden, Massachusetts to Nashua, New Hampshire that day.
When Simone got out of his pickup truck, he appeared in video taken from a helicopter overhead to kneel and put his hands on the ground when at least two officers began punching him.
Watch Raw Video Of The Arrest
Those two officers were later identified as Trooper Flynn and New Hampshire State Police Trooper Andrew Monaco.
In charging him with simple assault, a grand jury for the state of New Hampshire found "that Joseph Flynn did knowingly cause unprivileged physical contact to Richard Simone by striking Simone with his hand on the right side of Simone's body above the waist, and at the time he committed this assault, Joseph Flynn was an on-duty law enforcement officer with the Massachusetts State Police," the indictment read.
Trooper Flynn had been a member of the department since 2011. He was suspended on May 13, and, along with then-Trooper Monaco, charged with assault on July 19.
Last month, ex-Trooper Monaco pleaded guilty to three counts of simple assault for beating Simone after his arrest, and was given no jail time.
A date has not yet been set for Trooper Flynn's arraignment on this indictment. He is still employed by the Mass. State Police, but remains suspended without pay.
