Massachusetts Officer Indicted for Assault on Handcuffed Suspect

A decorated Chelsea, Mass., police officer and Iraq War veteran was recorded in 2014 punching a handcuffed man four times and yelling expletives while standing over him, Suffolk prosecutors said in court Tuesday.

The police officer, Felix Rivera Jr., 34, also concocted a false story to justify beating the man and attempted to bring unwarranted charges against the victim, prosecutors said in Suffolk District Court. But Rivera’s falsified report was discredited after video evidence and testimony from 12 other police officers contradicted his narrative, prosecutors told the Boston Globe.

Rivera was arraigned Tuesday on charges of violating the man’s civil rights, assault and battery, and filing a false police report.

The suspect has only been identified as a 20-year-old Chelsea man with no prior criminal history.

Rivera pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released; a trial date was set for April 5, 2016. He has been on unpaid administrative leave from the Chelsea Police Department throughout the investigation.