‘Running for his life’: Man says suspended BPD officer hit him with patrol car
By Jake Shindel, Tori Yorgey
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BALTIMORE (WBAL) — Baltimore police are investigating a viral video and suspended an officer after a man said he was struck by the patrol car.
WBAL-TV 11 News spoke exclusively with the man who recorded the video and the man at the center of the video that prompted BPD to start an internal affairs investigation into the officer’s actions.
The video from Tuesday night shows an officer in a marked patrol car chasing a person on foot.
The person who recorded the video, Slick Brown, exclusively told WBAL-TV 11 News that he and his friends were hanging out along Wylie Avenue in Park Heights when the officer went up and told them to move.
“(The officer) told him, ‘Come here,’ for no reason,” Brown told WBAL-TV 11 News. “So, my man said, ‘No,’ so he kept walking. He walked through the alley. As soon as he walked into the alley, (the officer) hopped back into the car and started chasing him. Automatic, full speed, trying to hit him and all of that. So, my man started running. He was running for his life. He isn’t going to stop, (the officer) was trying to hit him with his car.”
Brown said the group did move, but then the officer returned. The rest was caught on camera.
The man who nearly got run over is OK, but is a bit sore and has a banged up knee, he said.
The officer’s police powers have since been suspended, BPD said.
The man seen in the video told WBAL-TV 11 News that he found out Wednesday the officer was trying to talk to him because he had a failure to appear in court for driving without a license.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley released a statement, saying:
“What is seen in this video is not only disturbing, but alarming. This is not how we expect our officers to behave and this incident does not reflect the values or standards of the Baltimore Police Department. Our department continues to work hard to rebuild trust and change the narrative of our department and our city. We remain committed to holding officers accountable for their actions and continuing the work of rebuilding trust with our community.”
In a statement, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott called the video “deeply disturbing.”
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates released a a statement, saying he is “deeply disturbed” by what he saw in the video. The statement reads, in part:
“The Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City takes all allegations of police misconduct extremely seriously. Our Public Trust and Police Integrity Unit has opened an immediate investigation into this matter that will be thorough and comprehensive. “At this time, we understand that the officer involved has been suspended. Out of an abundance of caution and in keeping with our ethical obligations, our office will decline to call this officer as a witness in any active or future criminal prosecutions until the investigation is complete.”
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