(NECN) - A Seabrook, N.H. police officer has been indicted in connection with a 2009 police brutality case.
New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster announced Thursday that the Rockingham County Superior Court grand jury returned an indictment charging Officer Mark Richardson with one count of simple assault. Because Richardson was an on-duty law enforcement officer at the time of the alleged assault, an enhanced penalty applies which provides for a maximum sentence of up to 2 to 5 years in state prison and a $4,000 fine.
The indictment alleges that on Nov. 11, 2009, Richardson "did knowingly cause unprivileged physical contact to Michael Bergeron Jr. by slamming his head into a concrete wall..." An arraignment will be scheduled for Richardson in Rockingham County Superior Court.
A charge of simple assault against Seabrook Police Officer Adam Laurent was also presented to the grand jury, but after considering the testimony and evidence presented, the grand jury did not indict him. Therefore, Laurent will not face a criminal charge for his use of pepper spray against Bergeron on Nov. 11, 2009.
Richardson, Laurent and a third Seabrook Police officer were placed on paid administrative leave by the Town of Seabrook in January after a video surfaced on YouTube showing them walking Bergeron down the Seabrook Police Department jail cell corridor following his arrest for drunken driving. The officers were shown slamming Bergeron head first into a wall.
