Police suspend officer on video
Commissioner says he’s ‘deeply disturbed’ by image of man being punched
A Baltimore police officer was suspended by the department Saturday after a viral video emerged showing him repeatedly punching a man in the face before taking him to the ground.
Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle said he was “deeply disturbed” by the video, and that the incident is under investigation.
“The officer involved has been suspended while we investigate the totality of this incident,” Tuggle said. “Part of our investigation will be reviewing body worn camera footage.”
Police said a second officer on the scene at the time of the incident was placed on administrative duties pending the outcome of the the investigation.
Attorney Warren Brown, who is representing the man who was punched, identified his client as Dashawn McGrier, 26. Brown said McGrier was not being charged with a crime, but was taken to a hospital and was having X-rays taken of his jaw, nose and ribs late Saturday for suspected fractures from the altercation.
Brown said McGrier had a previous run-in with the same police officer — whom he identified as Officer Arthur Williams — in June that resulted in McGrier being charged with assaulting the officer, disorderly conduct, obstructing and hindering, and resisting arrest. Brown said that in that incident and in the one Saturday, McGrier was targeted without justification by the officer.
“It seems like this officer had just decided that Dashawn was going to be his punching bag,” Brown said. “And this was a brutal attack that was degrading and demeaning to my client, to that community, and to the police department.”
Tuggle did not identify the officer or the man who was punched, but the department said he has been on the force for just over a year. At Williams’ graduation from the police academy last year, he received awards for top performance, including for high marks in "defense tactics, physical training and emergency vehicle operations,” for his "academic achievement, professional attitude, appearance, ability to supervise,” and for his "tireless and unwavering dedication" and "outstanding leadership ability,” according to a video of the graduation ceremony.
The police department said the incident Saturday began after two officers stopped McGrier, let him go, then approached him again to give him a citizen contact sheet.
“When he was asked for his identification, the situation escalated when he refused,” the department said. “The police officer then struck the man several times.”
Brown said McGrier was sitting on steps when Williams passed by in his vehicle, then moments later was walking down the street when the officer, now on foot, told him to stop without giving him a reason.
“My client was saying, ‘What is this all about? You don’t even have probable cause,’ ” Brown said. That’s when Williams the officer began shoving McGrier, Brown said.
Tuggle asked anyone who witnessed the incident to contact the Office of Professional Responsibility at 410-396-2300.
“While I have an expectation that officers are out of their cars, on foot, and engaging citizens, I expect that it will be done professionally and constitutionally,” he said. “I have zero tolerance for behavior like I witnessed on the video today. Officers have a responsibility and duty to control their emotions in the most stressful of situations.”
The incident occurred Saturday outside Q’s Bar and Liquors in the 2600 block of E. Monument St. in East Baltimore.
The video shows the officer pushing the man against a wall, with his hand on the man’s chest, and then the man pushing the officer’s hand off his chest. It is then that the officer starts swinging.
The officer throws repeated punches, shoves the man onto rowhouse steps and continues beating him until the man lands on the pavement. The man appears to be bleeding when he gets to the ground.
The man being punched appears to try to deflect some of the officer’s punches but does not punch back.
A second officer, whom the department did not identify, briefly places his hand on the arm of the man being punched as the man tries to avoid the blows but does not appear to try to stop the first officer from throwing punches.
Shantel Allen, 28, who said she grew up with McGrier and considers him like a brother, called the escalation of the encounter by Williams shocking.
“I was speechless. I was enraged. I was hurt. I was shocked more than anything. That is really something you don’t expect,” she said. “I truly feel as though this officer needs to be dealt with in a very serious manner, so none of his fellow officers or anyone else in the criminal justice system feels like they can use this kind of force.”
“This is a crime. You can’t just go around putting your hands on people,” she said.
Brown said Internal Affairs officers were at the hospital to speak with McGrier. Brown said he also had spoken with the office of Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. Mosby’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The police department said Mosby’s office “provided information related to this case,” but did not explain what that meant.
Several men on Monument Street at the time — who asked not to be named, for fear of reprisal from the police for discussing the matter — said the officer who threw the punches knew the man he punched from prior interactions, and that they believed he was targeting him.
They said the officer is young and had previously worked foot patrol along the corridor, but recently began working out of a car.
The men said the officer stopped the man on Saturday without good reason, which is why the man was talking back to the officer before the officer started throwing punches. That the officer responded physically was completely out of line, the men said.
“We want justice. We don’t want things like that to happen. We want him to be held accountable, and not no paid suspension,” one man said.
Police would not say whether the officer’s suspension was paid or unpaid.
Mayor Catherine Pugh echoed Tuggle in a statement late Saturday, in which she also called the encounter between the officer and the man “disturbing.” She said she was in touch with Tuggle and had “demanded answers and accountability.”
“We are working day and night to bring about a new era of community-based, constitutional policing and will not be deterred by this or any other instance that threatens our efforts to re-establish the trust of all citizens in the Baltimore Police Department,” the mayor said.
City Councilman Brandon Scott said the department did the right thing by suspending the officer. Scott said he spoke with Tuggle after seeing the video, and the commissioner assured him it would be handled appropriately. He said the officer should be fired.