Pugh announces spokesman, who abruptly resigns

On Wednesday morning Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh introduced her new spokesman at City Hall and posed with him for a photograph.

By Wednesday evening Darryl Strange was gone. He resigned after The Baltimore Sun asked about three lawsuits from Strange’s five years as a Baltimore police officer.

Pugh confirmed that she had accepted Strange’s resignation in a statement late Wednesday. The mayor said he was still being vetted when she announced his hiring.

“As for anyone who applies to work at City Hall and particularly in a senior role, there is an extensive vetting process that takes time to complete,” Pugh said in the statement.

Pugh introduced Strange to reporters Wednesday morning and touted his credentials as a former police officer and a “very proud resident of Baltimore City.”

Strange’s career as a city police officer between 2006 and 2011 led to three lawsuits that cost city taxpayers nearly $80,000. City and court records show Strange’s tenure at the Police Department involved two legal payouts and a third allegation of wrongdoing during a traffic stop.

The city’s spending board approved a $67,500 settlement in 2010 to resolve a complaint in which the owner of a check cashing store on North Avenue alleged that he was wrongfully arrested by Strange and another officer. And in 2008 a Baltimore judge awarded $12,000 to a woman who alleged that Strange crashed his squad car into her vehicle, court records show. The woman dropped her claims against Strange when the judge ordered the city to pay the money, court records show.

In a telephone interview, Strange said he never admitted to any wrongdoing in the settled case and declined to comment further.