Massachusetts Cop Hit Handcuffed Man in Forehead With Baton, Feds Say

A Massachusetts cop was arrested Wednesday after being indicted on federal charges for allegedly assaulting a 55-year-old man in his custody over a domestic dispute. Officer Nicholas M. Hoar of the Fall River Police Department is accused of striking William Harvey in the forehead with his baton and slamming Harvey’s head into a door while he was handcuffed outside a police station in late 2020—a case the city recently settled in civil court for $65,000. Hoar, who is battling an ongoing $65 million lawsuit for shooting and killing a 19-year-old man in 2017, is facing one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and two counts of filing a false report, for omitting any mention of the alleged attack in his official writeup of the incident.