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Trooper faces hearing after pursuit arrest captured on video

The unnamed trooper was relieved of duty Thursday pending the hearing

Associated Press

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — A Massachusetts State Police trooper is facing a disciplinary hearing on his involvement in a 50-mile car chase that ended with a violent takedown of a suspect in New Hampshire that was caught on video.

The closed-door hearing was scheduled for Friday afternoon.

The unnamed trooper was relieved of duty Thursday pending the hearing, which is meant to determine whether he’s suspended or placed on another work status as the investigation continues.

A New Hampshire state trooper, whose name also wasn’t released, has been suspended and that state’s attorney general is investigating.

Fifty-year-old Worcester resident Richard Simone Jr., wanted on multiple warrants, refused to stop Wednesday for police in Holden, Massachusetts. He led police on an hourlong chase that reached speeds of up to 100 mph before ending in Nashua, New Hampshire, after officers laid out spike strips.

Simone stepped out of his pickup truck, kneeled and put his hands on the ground, but officers then repeatedly punched him, news helicopter footage shows.

Governors from the two states have expressed concern, and Simone’s family has questioned the police officers’ conduct.

“He’s been in trouble in the past, but he’s not a violent person,” Jesse Biziewski, Simone’s cousin, told NECN. “Whatever he did to lead up to this chase, he definitely deserves a punishment, but that type of punishment he does not deserve.”

It wasn’t immediately clear Friday if Simone has a lawyer.

Simone remained in New Hampshire but has agreed to be taken back to Massachusetts to face outstanding warrants that include assault with a deadly weapon and larceny.

The Wednesday chase wasn’t the first time Simone has eluded police trying to arrest him for the outstanding warrants.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports he almost rammed a police cruiser in a separate chase three days earlier in Millbury, Massachusetts, before driving onto Interstate 290.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press

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