Former Hadley Officer Convicted Of Using Excessive Force During Arrest

A former Hadley police officer has been found guilty by a federal jury of using unreasonable force during a 2017 arrest and then falsifying his report of the incident.

Prosecutors say 49-year-old Christopher Roeder was convicted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Springfield of deprivation of rights and falsification of a document.

Authorities say Roeder was a Hadley police officer on April 3 when he struck a man he had arrested in the face with his elbow, bouncing the man's head off a concrete wall. The blow broke the man's nose in multiple places, which required reconstructive surgery.

Roeder, of Agawam, then lied on the police report about the incident. The town subsequently fired him.

He is scheduled to be sentenced May 14.