A member of the Pennsylvania State Police has been charged with simple assault in connection with the alleged beating of a suspect during a 2010 arrest. The State Police reports that the officer has been suspended without pay pending the criminal court proceedings.

According to court papers filed by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, the criminal assault charge stems from a September 29, 2010 arrest of a 52-year-old Doylesburg man, which was reportedly caught on tape by the police car's video camera.

The incident began when five Pennsylvania state troopers were sent to the man's home regarding allegations that he threatened to beat up an auto mechanic with a baseball bat. The man claims that he had made a similar, but less threatening statement to his insurance agent after being overcharged by a mechanic.

The man later told a local newspaper that he opened his front door to find the five officers, "waiting for a confrontation" with cans of pepper spray in their hands. According to the man's version of the story, they pepper-sprayed and Tased him before handcuffing him and placing him in the back of a police car.

The officer, who was on duty as a patrol supervisor, then arrived on the scene. The patrol car video reportedly shows him opening the rear door of the police car and pepper-spraying the man in the face before striking him and pushing him back in the car. He was then taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and treated for two large cuts on his face, each of which required 15 stitches.

More than a year after the alleged assault, the officer has been arrested and charged with simple assault. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Source: Chambersburg Public Opinion, "Pennsylvania State Police corporal charged in beating of Doylesburg suspect," Jim Tuttle, Oct. 12, 2011