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Former correctional officer charged with assaulting person incarcerated at Manchester jail

Valley Street Jail in Manchester, N.H.
Zoey Knox
/
NHPR
The Hillsborough County Department of Corrections, sometimes called the Valley Street Jail, is located in Manchester.

A former corrections officer at the Hillsborough County jail in Manchester was arrested Tuesday on charges that he physically assaulted someone who was incarcerated at the facility, according to police.

Todd Gordon, 51, of Dracut, Massachusetts, faces charges of second-degree assault, witness tampering and criminal threatening, according to a news release from the Manchester Police Department. He turned himself in to police Tuesday and is set for arraignment May 26.

According to Manchester police, a person who was incarcerated at the facility, sometimes called the Valley Street Jail, alleged a corrections officer assaulted him on Jan. 31 while preparing to transport him to the New Hampshire State Prison.

The police department did not release additional details about the alleged assault, and court records in the case were not immediately available.

The Hillsborough County Department of Corrections notified Manchester police after learning of the allegation in February, according to police and corrections officials.

Police identified the corrections officer as Gordon, a lieutenant, and found probable cause to support the charges, according to the Manchester Police Department. Joseph Costanzo, the superintendent of the Hillsborough County jail, confirmed Gordon no longer works at the jail. He declined to comment on when and why Gordon’s employment ended.

In a statement, the Hillsborough County Department of Corrections pledged “ongoing cooperation as this unfortunate matter proceeds through the criminal justice system” and said it was committed to ensuring the safety of those in its custody.

Efforts to reach Gordon for comment were not immediately successful.

I report on health and equity for NHPR. My work focuses on questions about who is able to access health care in New Hampshire, who is left out, and how that affects their health and well-being. I want to understand the barriers that make it hard for people to get care – including financial barriers – and what people in power are or aren’t doing to make things better.
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