NH man found guilty of violent, drunken attack on Hampton police officers

BRENTWOOD — A former Litchfield man was convicted of 12 charges, including two felonies, for brutally assaulting two Hampton police officers in November as they tried to take him into custody outside the 401 Tavern.

Bryan Foley, 42, will be formally sentenced on Sept. 23 after a jury found him guilty last week of 12 of the 14 charges he was facing from the Nov. 16, 2023, drunken altercation.

He was acquitted of one felony Class B charge of second-degree assault for strangulation, and prosecutors dropped a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief.

Assistant Rockingham County Attorney Katelyn Brown said Foley acted as his own attorney during the three-day trial at Rockingham Superior Court. Foley claimed self-defense and was assisted by a court-appointed attorney from the New Hampshire Public Defender’s office who acted as a stand-by counsel.

Foley could face enhanced sentencing

Brown said the fact Foley assaulted two police officers will play a large part in determining the length of his sentences for the two felony and nine misdemeanor charges for which he was convicted. Under New Hampshire law, assaults on police officers allow prosecutors to ask for enhanced sentencing, she said, and that will be their intent in this case.

Foley was found guilty of two felony Class B charges of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, a knife, she said. Felony B convictions normally come with sentences of from 1½ to 3 years in state prison. However, the enhanced sentencing for police officer assault comes with a possible 10- to 30-year sentence per count in state prison, she said.

Foley was also found guilty of nine misdemeanor simple assault charges, which customarily come with a maximum sentence of a $2,000 fine and up to a year in jail, Brown said. Because these charges also relate to his assault on the two officers, Brown said, each may carry an enhanced sentence of from 2 to 5 years in state prison.

Prosecutors will not propose enhanced sentencing on one misdemeanor conviction for resisting arrest, Brown said.

The convictions bring to a close an event that caused considerable concern and put officers in harm’s way, said Hampton Police Chief Alex Reno. He expressed satisfaction with the outcome, stating that there is no place for such acts of violence in the Hampton community and commending the officers involved for acting “beyond reproach” given what they faced.

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What led to the assault of officers outside the 401 Tavern?

The incident began around 7 p.m. on Nov. 16, 2023, when police dispatch got a call from employees of the 401 Tavern asking for help with a disorderly man believed to be too drunk to drive away on his motorcycle.

“What we weren’t told is that he’d caused a scene, threatened to fight all the people in the bar, and allegedly threw a glass at the bartender,” Reno said immediately after the incident.

Reno said officers determined Foley was too intoxicated to drive. When he told them he was homeless and had no one to come and pick him up, officers explained they would take him into protective custody. Foley initially complied when they handcuffed him and walked him to the cruiser.

They attempted to check him for weapons when Foley told them he “had several knives” on him, according to Reno. The officers were able to retrieve one, but not others as Foley was in handcuffs. It was when an officer released one of Foley’s hands to remove the other weapons that Foley became combative, Reno said.

Reno said Foley punched and struck both officers repeatedly in the head and face, kicked and bit them, and attempted to strangle one. All the while, Reno said, Foley told officers, “You’re going to die.’”

Other officers responded, and Foley was subdued and taken to the police station for booking. Both officers involved in the altercation were brought to the emergency room for their injuries, treated and released, according to Reno.

Foley was also brought to the hospital but refused treatment, Reno said.

Arraigned the next day, Foley was held without bail and has been held on preventative detention at the county house of correction ever since.

According to court documents, he’s made no petition for bail and will remain there until he is sentenced.

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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH man found guilty of violent, drunken attack on Hampton police officers