Off-duty cop who pinned down pedestrian previously accused of excessive force: Report

The off-duty Boston Police officer who was caught on camera allegedly manhandling a pedestrian after a dispute reportedly has a history of excessive force accusations.

Officer Edward P. Barrett, a West Roxbury patrol officer who has had 20 years with the Boston police force, has been investigated twice before for allegedly using excessive force, the Boston Globe reported Friday.In both cases Barrett was cleared of any wrongdoing.

But Boston police are still investigating Tuesday’s incident, which occured after a man allegedly tapped Barrett’s car with an umbrella as he was walking through a crosswalk. Facebook user Stephen Harlowe caught the incident on camera. In it, Barrett is seen using his knee to pin the man to the ground and Harlowe is heard accusing Barrett of forcing the man’s head into the pavement.

In his Facebook post showing the video, Harlowe wrote:

“Just witnessed, with co-workers, an elderly man being chased down and slammed to the ground, hair pulled and head slammed again to the ground, by Boston PD who refused to identify himself, even after the elderly was on the ground and not resisting. … No arrest likely because too many people called out the actions of the Red Sox shirt “cop” and confronted him on his road rage. Abuse and assault?”

No charges were brought against the pedestrian, who has not been identified.

The video has been viewed more than 964,000 times since Tuesday.