Records: Cop faces DUI, found lying ‘in vomit’

Off-duty Baltimore officer says he lost handgun after he was found passed out

An off-duty Baltimore Police officer was arrested for drunk driving after he was found passed out in Southeast Baltimore and said he had lost a personal handgun, according to a police incident report.

The arrest is the second in less than three years for Officer Adrian Ortiz, 28, who’s been on the force since 2014. A 2018 arrest was prompted by a 911 call for an armed man at a club, according to court records from that case.

The latest charges occurred Oct. 7. An officer wrote in an incident report that he was called to investigate a man lying in the street at a Wawa in the 6500 block of Eastern Ave., and found Ortiz lying “next to his vehicle in vomit.”

Ortiz later told the officer that he did not have his off-duty firearm; officers searched the area and were unable to find it, the incident report says. Ortiz was charged with driving while under the influence and driving while impaired by alcohol.

Police spokeswoman Lindsey Eldridge said Ortiz is suspended with pay. He made $101,813, including overtime, last year, according to the city’s salary database. Ortiz could not be reached for comment.

Ortiz was previously charged with DUI in January 2018. An incident report at the time showed that police were called to the Euphoria night club in the 1300 block of Ponca St. for a report of an armed person. When police arrived, according to the report, a man at the scene pointed to a car driving away and said: “That truck that just pulled off, those guys have guns.”

The officers pulled over Ortiz and believed he was intoxicated, according to the report. They took him to the Central District station where he was administered a breath test and registered 0.1, above the state’s limit of 0.08.

City prosecutors dropped all charges against Ortiz. His attorney, Chaz Ball, said Wednesday that police took hours to administer the breath test, which invalidated it legally. Ball also said the internal investigation didn’t turn up any witnesses or evidence that could corroborate the claim that anyone had brandished a firearm at the club.

Though Ortiz was never identified, police disclosed in 2018 that two officers were suspended in connection with the incident and investigated for “alleged misconduct.” Police misconduct investigations are secret in Maryland.