Haverhill Places Seven Police Officers on Leave After Custody Death

Seven Haverhill, Massachusetts, police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave while state and local authorities investigate the death of a man they tried to restrain outside a seafood restaurant last Friday, Police Chief Robert P. Pistone Jr. said on Monday. Officers were called to Bradford Seafood Restaurant on Winter Street around 6:30 p.m. on July 11 after reports that Francis Gigliotti, 43, was behaving erratically and running into traffic. Witness video shows multiple officers holding Gigliotti face-down on the pavement; during the struggle he became unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The Essex County District Attorney’s Office has opened a full inquiry and is asking witnesses to submit any images or recordings of the encounter. The department does not equip its officers with body cameras, and the names of the officers have not been released. An autopsy is pending, and Haverhill officials said no further details will be provided until the investigation is complete.