The Essex County District Attorney’s office has released a video compilation showing the moments just before a
Haverhill man died
following a struggle with police officers.
Francis Gigliotti, 43, died on July 11 after officers attempted to restrain him outside of Bradford Seafood on Winter Street in Haverhill. Police were first called to respond to a man behaving strangely while walking in and out of traffic.
Essex DA
Paul Tucker
said Monday that all deaths are a tragedy with reverberating impacts on the families and community involved, and that his office would conduct a “complete, impartial, and independent investigation.”
“I am committed to transparency and providing the public with as much information that we can at the appropriate time,” Tucker said, before adding that he thinks “the video speaks for itself.”
Tucker’s presentation also included a recording of the 911 call that led responding officers to the scene. The caller said that Gigliotti was running into the street, acting “crazy,” and that he’d slammed his head against a parked vehicle.
The
video
shows Gigliotti moving erratically, his speed and direction changing sporadically. He occasionally moves his arm as if to ward off some approaching person, though the video does not show anyone for him to wave away.
Gigliotti then enters a convenience store and leaves, the video shows, when he’s met by another man who appears to try and speak with him. Gigliotti shakes hands with the man but does not release his grip, and then he appears to drag the other man along in another fit of movement.
After he and the other man separate, Gigliotti is shown walking in the middle of the street and dodging moving cars.
A Haverhill PD officer arrives, and while there is no audio of that scene, it’s clear the officer is trying to get Gigliotti out of the street and onto the sidewalk. When a second officer arrives, the video shows Gigliotti suddenly spring into a trot and cross the street away from police.
As the officers pursued him, the video shows Gigliotti eventually made his way toward the Bradford Seafood Restaurant, which was open and serving patrons. When he attempts to enter the restaurant, an officer reaches out to stop him, which is when the struggle that preceded his death began.
According to Tucker, the medical examiner has not yet determined a cause of death. The DA’s office, Tucker said, is in the middle of their investigation and nowhere near offering any conclusions.
Seven Haverhill police officers have been placed on administrative leave as the investigation moves forward.
Tucker said that as further information surfaces — such as the identity of a motorist who stopped to speak with Gigliotti — that the public will be kept up to date.
“I’m not going to put a timeline on that, but we are proceeding with the investigation and when there is something that we determine that the public should know, we’re going to balance that against the integrity of the investigation,” he said.
