Staff Writer
SALEM — Salem Police are doing an internal investigation of an arrest made by an officer that was caught on film and is being shown on the website You Tube under the heading “Bad Salem Cop.”
Patrolman Larry Puleo has been assigned to “internal duties” pending the outcome of the investigation, according to Chief Robert St. Pierre.
The video shows an officer grabbing a young man by the throat and throwing him to the ground. Police identified the man as Travis Markarian, 21, of Swampscott.
Moments before that arrest, Puleo had been punched in the face and kicked while making another arrest, police said.
Both incidents, which police say are not related, took place early Friday morning as police were dispersing crowds exiting downtown Salem bars.
