A dozen current Springfield police officers, one retired officer and one who has moved on, are among those now being charged in connection to an alleged assault and cover-up.
Attorney General Maura Healey and the FBI said yesterday that a grand jury in Worcester handed down an indictment for the 2015 incident at Nathan Bill's Bar and Restaurant in Springfield when six off-duty officers and the bar's owner allegedly assaulted four victims after a confrontation.
The officers had previously been charged in Springfield District Court. The city had reached a six-figure settlement last year for lawsuits that were filed.
No word on arraignments on the Superior Court level.
Meantime, Mayor Domenic Sarno said yesterday was not a good day for the Springfield Police Department. Following the indictments for the 2015 Nathan Bill's case, Sarno said he will continue, along with acting police commissioner Cheryl Clapprood, on efforts to root out negative actions by a few officers in order to not take away from the good work done by the majority of the SPD's force.
Clapprood said in a separate statement that she will move forward with disciplinary action on each officer involved as soon as evidence is made available by the grand jury, and in the meantime, each active officer indicted will be suspended without pay.