Ex-Trooper Andrew Monaco Reaches Settlement In Driver Assault After Chase

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former New Hampshire state trooper who was caught on video punching a man following a 2016 car chase has settled with the driver.

Andrew Monaco had resigned and pleaded guilty to simple assault charges in 2016 in an agreement that avoided jail time. The chase started in Massachusetts and ended in Nashua with the driver, Richard Simone Jr., getting out of his truck and kneeling. Monaco was seen hitting Simone in an aerial video from a television news crew.

The settlement is referenced in a federal court order on Wednesday following a lawsuit filed by Simone. The details were not released.

Simone initially sued 16 defendants, including a number of officers, the states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the city of Nashua and the town of Holden. Most of those cases have either been dismissed or settled.

The court document says there are still claims remaining against a Massachusetts state trooper, Joseph Flynn, who also was in the video. He went to trial and was acquitted of assault charges in 2017. Monaco testified against him.

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