A veteran Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officer is likely breathing a sigh of relief after being acquitted of the final charge of driving under the influence (DUI) pending against him. Two other charges stemming from the same incident were already dropped.
The sergeant was arrested in July after allegedly hitting several parked vehicles with his unmarked police vehicle in Northeast Baltimore as he was reportedly driving to work. No one was in the vehicles.
The sergeant’s attorney said that the sergeant “looks forward to returning to his regular duties that he faithfully performed for the citizens of Baltimore for the last 15 years.” Before the incident, he was one of two sergeants working in a new plainclothes unit created to deal with violent groups in Baltimore.
The attorney also asserted, “This was the weakest case I have seen in over ten years as a prosecutor and defense attorney.” He said, “The State did not produce any evidence of the cause of the accident, odor of alcohol, or impaired coordination as a result of alcohol consumption.” He said he believes his client was arrested and prosecuted because he’s a police officer.
Body camera footage shows the sergeant being detained after the incident. He told the officer who stopped him that he was a “city employee,” but not that he was with the BPD. He was not administered any field sobriety tests at the time, even though the officer said, “Obviously something is wrong with you…Did you take something?” It wasn’t until his wife was taking him home that officers apparently discovered that he worked for the BPD and then stopped the car and arrested him.
According to a state’s attorney’s office spokeswoman, the sergeant’s “blood alcohol level was almost double the legal limit 3 hours after being detained.”
If the usual protocol isn’t followed when someone is detained, that can form the basis for questioning the entire case against that person. Experienced Maryland attorneys can work to ensure that their clients are treated fairly and that their rights are protected throughout the judicial process.
