A Fall River officer is accused of police brutality. A trial in federal court begins today

FALL RIVER — The federal trial of Fall River patrol officer Nicholas Hoar is set to begin today for allegedly hitting a handcuffed man on the head with a police baton at police headquarters, then lying about the incident in a December 2020 police report.

The incident was the subject of an FBI investigation that led to a federal indictment in November 2022. Hoar, who is still a member of the FRPD on unpaid leave, pleaded not guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law resulting in bodily injury, and two counts of filing false reports.

He has been free since his arraignment.

Timeline: Misconduct and inappropriate use of force by Fall River police over recent years

What is alleged to have happened in the William Harvey incident

Hoar was the police officer involved in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old New Bedford man at the Fall River Industrial Park in 2017. The Bristol County District Attorney's office determined in a 2018 report that Hoar was justified and cleared of any wrongdoing.

Hoar is alleged to have hit William Harvey, 58, with a police baton and slammed his head into a door while he was handcuffed and being led out of a van outside the police station after he was arrested on a domestic complaint.

In a police report, Hoar claimed Harvey kicked him during a struggle while Hoard attempted to place him in a cell block, and claims the handcuffed prisoner hit his head on the cell wall.

According to court records, Hoar allegedly failed to identify that he hit Harvey with a police baton in a use of force report.

Part of the alleged assault was caught on a booking room surveillance camera.

After the alleged assault, Harvey was taken to a local hospital for treatment for his injuries.

In addition to a misdemeanor domestic assault charge, Harvey was charged with felony charges for the alleged police headquarters incident of felony assault with a deadly weapon, felony assault on a police officer.

After his arrest in late 2020, Harvey initially spent 120 days in jail. After being released, he moved back to his home in Las Vegas. During a hearing in Fall River District Court, a judge declared that Harvey spend another 102 days in jail. He later pleaded out to the domestic case and received probation.

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III dropped the felony charges against Harvey after Hoar’s federal indictment for alleged assault.

The trial: What will be discussed, and what will be left out

Court records show that there have been 10 days set aside for the trial.

According to court filings, Harvey, who settled with the city in a civil lawsuit for $65,000, will likely not be called to the witness stand by federal prosecutors.

However, several Fall River police officers are identified as witnesses for the government, including city police officer Jeffrey Maher, who allegedly saw Hoar strike Harvey in the head with the police baton after he attempted to kick Hoar.

During the FBI investigation, the baton that Hoar allegedly used was tested for DNA that likely belonged to Harvey. It will be presented as evidence at trial.

In a ruling on one of a flurry of motions, Federal Judge Allison D. Burroughs indicates she will likely allow that Hoar, between 2016 and 2020, had filled out 28 use of force reports, with two incidents involving police batons.

What won’t be brought out in trial, according to another of Burroughs' rulings, is the 2017 fatal shooting by Hoar that took the life of 19-year-old Larry Ruiz-Barreto after responding to a drag race at the Fall River Industrial Park.

Hoar shot at Ruiz-Barreto through the windshield of the New Bedford man’s car six times, hitting him five times. Ruiz-Barreto's father was in the backseat of the vehicle and witnessed the shooting.

Hoar claimed that Ruiz-Barreto had attempted to run him over, and he landed on the hood of the car when he shot the 19-year-old in self-defense.

A Bristol County District Attorney’s investigation cleared Hoar in the fatal shooting.

Hoar’s defense attorney, Leonardo A. Angiulo, argued that there was no relevant purpose to introduce the 2017 shooting, and “this incident is not like the allegations here, occurring three years prior in a different context, involved different parties, and otherwise reflects an [sic] tragic set of circumstances rather than illuminating the allegations in this case.”

The family of Ruiz-Barreto filed a federal civil lawsuit against Hoar and two dozen city police officers and officials, asking for $34 million. That case is still pending in federal court.

Hoar a fifth-generation Fall River police officer

Hoar joined the FRPD in 2016, joining his brother and recently retired father. He is the fifth generation of his family to join the city police department.

Previously, he had been a member of the transit police.

While still a member of the FRPD, the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, which certifies law enforcement officers, suspended Hoar’s certification last January.

Hoar's trial is the latest criminal case against a Fall River police officer taken to court for misconduct or use of force. Former Fall River police officers Michael Pessoa and Bryan Custadio are both serving prison time in two separate cases.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River police officer's brutality trial begins in federal court