LAWRENCE, Mass. — A federal grand jury has indicted a former Lawrence Police Department captain on charges stemming from an incident involving the alleged assault of an arrestee in a booking room and the falsification of official reports about that encounter.
The indictment, filed in the United States District Court of Massachusetts on Tuesday, charges Michael Mangan with two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and two counts of filing false reports.
Prosecutors allege that Mangan violently assaulted 29-year-old Sodiq Folarin Amusat during the booking process on March 10, 2023, violating his constitutional right to be free from unreasonable force. Amusat, a resident of Lawrence’s Merrimack Street neighborhood, was arrested after a neighbor complained about loud music coming from his apartment at three o’clock in the morning.
A complaint obtained by 25 Investigates in July 2023 alleged that Mangan “suddenly and without warning, viciously ‘clotheslined’ Mr. Amusat” and drove his “head into a metal door and onto the concrete floor” in a basement booking room.
Surveillance images included in the documents show Mangan using his right arm to knock Amusat backward and to the floor. While Mangan claimed Amasut provoked his response, the surveillance doesn’t show Amasut engaging Mangan.
Additionally, Mangan is accused of falsifying both a supplementary report and a use-of-force report to justify the assault. The reports allegedly mischaracterized the victim’s behavior as “assaultive” and claimed Mangan used a “straight arm take down” in response to a perceived threat.
Mangan, a 47-year-old resident of Derry, New Hampshire, was allowed to work for nearly two months after the incident before he was placed on leave by the Lawrence police department. He later retired.
Mangan pleaded not guilty to the charges at Moakley Federal Court in the Seaport on Wednesday afternoon.
He was released without having to post bail after agreeing to the terms of his probation.
Mangan was ordered to stay in New England, surrender his passport, and his firearms.
The former police captain apparently swapped shirts with a man before leaving the courthouse and slipped past news photographers outside.
Family members who were there to support him declined to comment about the allegations.
A status conference in the case has been scheduled for December 17th at 10:30 a.m.
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