"Our policy is we don't comment on personnel issues," Rossetti said. "We can only say this person no longer works for us."

Jessie Baker, director of personnel, said only Curtatone can fire civil service employees such as police officers.

In March 2006 Freitas allegedly slapped and punched a 15-year-old Somerville boy and then hit the boy with a flashlight or nightstick as he was handcuffed. The dispute allegedly started after the teenager kicked a recycling bin near Freitas' new sports car.

In a federal lawsuit filed in December 2008, the teenager said he suffered bruising, a bloody nose and a black eye swollen shut. The lawsuit named six other Somerville officers as defendants. Freitas had been drinking alcohol at a Somerville bar before the incident, the complaint alleged.

Rossetti did not say if Freitas' termination was related to that incident.