Attorney General Joseph A. Foster announces that his office has commenced a criminal investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding yesterday's arrest of Richard Simone, Jr. (age 50) in Nashua, New Hampshire to determine if the force utilized by any of the police officers violated any provisions of the criminal code. Colonel Robert Quinn of the New Hampshire State Police, Colonel Richard McKeon of the Massachusetts State Police and Chief Andrew Lavoie of the Nashua Police Department have assured their agencies' fullest cooperation with the investigation.

Pursuant to protocol, in an effort to protect the investigation, the names of the officers involved in the incident will not be released at this time. Once the investigation has reached a point where the release of the names would not impact the integrity of the investigation, a further press release with the names will be issued.

Any person who witnessed the incident involving Mr. Simone or any person who has video or photographs of the incident is asked to contact Investigators Richard Tracy or Todd Flanagan of the Attorney General's Office at (603) 271-3671.