Baltimore union outraged they were not notified about violent assault on worker until after his death
WJZ
By Mike Hellgren
Click here for updates on this story
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The union representing a Baltimore City Department of Transportation employee who died after being assaulted on the job said they should have been alerted immediately after he was attacked.
They are calling for better protection for city employees.
“As president of a union, to get the call after the fact is unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable,” City Union of Baltimore president Antoinette Ryan-Johnson told WJZ. “I was extremely disheartened, and I was disheartened because I was notified on the day of his death. I didn’t even know that the incident had happened.”
Ryan-Johnson said she never learned about the October 17 attack on 71-year-old Gregory Turnipseed until after he died, the day before Thanksgiving.
“It is extremely shocking. It’s shocking, disheartening, upsetting,” Ryan-Johnson said. “At the end of the day, he was my member. He belonged to this union. But he was somebody’s personal family member. They now don’t have a father to come home. He should have been able to come home at the end of the day and spend Thanksgiving with them, but that will no longer happen.
Ryan-Johnson continued, “So, yes, I’m angry. I’m very angry. We should have been notified.”
According to charging documents, Turnipseed was on the job for the Baltimore Department of Transportation when he stopped to help in a dispute over a parking space on St. Paul Street.
Police said a 15-year-old girl got out of an SUV and punched him in the face while her mother, 49-year-old Kiannah Bonaparte, jumped on his back and then kicked him repeatedly in the head.
Turnipseed died more than a month later after bleeding in the brain.
His daughter, Gerri Turnipseed, told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren her father suffered slurred speech, issues with walking, and memory loss after the assault.
You can read more of the exclusive interview with her here.
“I know sometimes people have road rage, or people have tempers, or they don’t have patience,” Gerri Turnipseed said. “We don’t think these things will happen. We think it’s OK to maybe have a back and forth with someone, and you just never know what they’re going through, their intentions, if they’re a good person.”
Authorities have not commented on any possible punishment for the juvenile.
Bonaparte is charged with assault, which police say is being amended after Turnipseed’s death.
The state’s attorney’s office told WJZ on Monday, “The investigation is still underway before additional charges can be brought forward.”
The union is calling on the city to conduct an independent, transparent investigation into what happened and work with the union to develop better safety protocols.
“My traffic enforcement officers in the Department of Transportation have been assaulted, have had liquids thrown on them, gun drawn on them, things of that magnitude,” Ryan-Johnson told WJZ. “This is absolutely unacceptable at this point. Absolutely unacceptable. And if somebody downtown does not understand that something that has to be done, we can’t keep losing employees and members like this. It’s tragic.”
She is hopeful city leaders will listen to her plea for worker safety.
“The city has to ensure, as the employer, that their workers are safe when they come to work,” Ryan-Johnson said.
Turnipseed worked for Baltimore for 14 years.
The mayor called him an exemplary public servant.
Ryan-Johnson offered her condolences to Turnipseed’s loved ones.
“We are committed to standing with his family,” she said. “We extend our sincerest condolences, and please know we are grieving with you, and we feel your pain. We are saddened and disheartened that your father, your family member, is no longer here with you.”
This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.