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Haverhill PD places 7 officers on leave after death of longtime resident
Many Haverhill locals are outraged at the death of Francis Gigliotti. Videos show him pleading for help moments before his death.
Last week, a man “became unresponsive” and died after an interaction with police in Haverhill. Now, seven Haverhill police officers are on paid administrative leave as officials investigate the incident.
Chief Robert Pistone confirmed to Boston.com that the officers were on leave, but said that he could not comment further while the matter is being investigated.
“Once the investigation is complete, and all of the facts are known, I will be able to provide more information and address the media and public,” Pistone wrote in a brief email.
Francis Gigliotti, 43, was “behaving erratically” last Friday evening near White Street, according to Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker. Police were told that he was running in the middle of the street and hit a car with his head. Surveillance footage showed Gigliotti “weaving in and out of traffic, nearly being struck several times.”
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By the time police arrived, Gigliotti was behaving in a “belligerent manner,” Tucker said. Gigliotti fled and attempted to enter a nearby seafood restaurant, so police went to restrain him “for safety purposes and for the safety of the surrounding public.”
They went to the ground in a “struggle,” Tucker said, and Gigliotti became unresponsive. First responders attempted to administer lifesaving aid, and EMS transported Gigliotti to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A Facebook user posting on a page for a roofing company that Gigliotti apparently helped co-found said that Gigliotti died “in an act of senseless and brutal force at the hands of Haverhill Police.”
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“He was pinned to the ground by eight officers while screaming that he couldn’t breathe. He begged for help. And they didn’t listen,” the Facebook user, who called Gigliotti one of his best friends, wrote.
Video of the incident posted to social media shows multiple police officers holding Gigliotti down as he screams for help. A person can be heard telling officers to be “easy” with Gigliotti, to which one officer replies “I know.”
“I don’t think it takes all you guys to hold homeboy down though,” someone can be heard telling the officers.
In another video posted to Facebook, one officer tells a bystander that they are trying not to hurt Gigliotti. Another officer asks the person taping to step back as Gigliotti continues pleading for help.
Gigliotti’s fiancée Michelle Rooney told The Boston Globe that she received a panicked call from him outside the restaurant, as police attempted to restrain him.
“‘You gotta get here. They gonna kill me,’” she recalled him saying.
The incident sparked outrage and grief among Haverhill residents, who gathered Sunday to mourn Gigliotti and call for increased police accountability.
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Haverhill Mayor Melinda Barrett called the incident “tragic” in a statement and said that the public deserves a “thorough and transparent investigation.”
Tucker’s office is overseeing the investigation, which will include interviews with witnesses as well as the responding officers. Officials are asking members of the public to submit any relevant photos or video to help with the investigation.
Haverhill police do not currently wear body cameras. Barrett said that she and Pistone are working together to establish a body camera program for the department in contract negotiations with officers.
The police department does employ one behavioral health clinician, and a “behavioral response unit” responded to 814 calls last year. A social worker employed by the city works with police on matters of drug intervention, Barrett said, adding that she wants to expand these resources.
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