Victims in Police Brutality Cases Indicted

The victims in ongoing police brutality cases in Seabrook and Salem were both indicted this month.

Michael Bergeron Jr. of Seabrook and Thomas Templeton of York, ME were indicted by a Rockingham County Superiror Court grand jury. 

Bergeron, who alleges that he was beaten by Seabrook police, was indicted on one count of burglary for an incident that occurred on Aug. 13, 2013 in Hampton. He has had several previous run-ins with police.

Thomas Templeton, who was allegedly assaulted by a Salem police officer, was indicted on one count of reckless conduct, one count of disobeying an officer and one count of resisting arrest or detention for an incident that occurred on Oct. 6, 2013 in Salem. According to the indictment, he drove at speeds in excess of 80 mph on Interstate 93 and then ran a red light on Route 28 before driving down the wrong side of the road on Veterans Memorial Highway, again in excess of 80 mph. He also failed to stop for police and physically interfered with a state police trooper attempting to arrest him by exiting his car and running behind a building.

Bergeron posted a video to YouTube in January of his alleged assault in 2009 by Seabrook police officers inside the Seabrook Police Department. Three of the four Seabrook police officers — Mark Richardson, Adam Laurent and Keith Dietenhofer — shown in the Nov. 11, 2009, video of the alleged brutality are on paid administrative leave pending a multi-agency criminal investigation into potential civil rights violations.

Templeton's arrest last year, meanwhile, prompted its own police brutality investigation after it was learned that Salem Police Officer Joseph Freda allegedly struck Templeton in the head with a flashlight and stepped on his hand after he was apprehended. Freda was charged with two counts of simple assault and fired by the town.