Ring video calls into question assault, fleeing the scene report

An attorney for a Glen Burnie man charged with assaulting a crossing guard is requesting the state drop his charges after a Ring video of the incident surfaced.

Joseph Hernandez, 32, was arrested and charged with second-degree assault and a host of traffic violations, including failing to obey the direction of a traffic guard and failing to render aid to an injured person. Officers responded around 8:45 a.m. Sept. 9 to Shetlands Lane and Tam O Shanter Glen where a crossing guard told police she stopped traffic to allow students to cross the street when an impatient driver drove a blue Tesla at her and struck her leg before driving away.

Det. Hillyer was stationed at the crosswalk and reported witnessing Hernandez move forward into the crosswalk and strike the guard in the back of the leg before reversing the car.

The crossing guard and Hernandez then got into a verbal altercation, she wrote in charging documents. Police wrote in a press release that the strike caused minor injuries.

“I tried to calm Hernandez and explain to him what I witnessed his vehicle strike (the crossing guard) but he was uncooperative, very impatient, and left the scene of an accident turning left onto Shetlands Ln, and fled the scene,” Det. Hillyer wrote in charging documents.

A Ring doorbell video obtained by ABC 7 News shows a less dramatic scene. Hernandez pulls into the middle of the crosswalk as another car turns onto a road lined with cars.

The video shows the crossing guard standing in front of the Tesla.

The car’s tires shift and begin to reverse, causing the crossing guard to turn around to face the car. She then turns toward the police officer across the street. Det. Hillyr wrote in charging documents the guard paused, slowly turned around and then asked her: “Did you see that?” The guard then confronts Hernandez, according to charging documents and the video. Det. Hillyer is seen across the street and approaches Hernandez in his Tesla and the crossing guard, who appear to be talking to one another.

Both the crossing guard and officer walk away from Hernandez, the video shows. Hernandez then drives away, using a turning signal and pulling around the crossing guard.

James Keatts, an attorney representing Hernandez, said Hernandez was arrested hours after the incident and spent the night in jail. Police located Hernandez by his license plate, which Det. Hillyer made note of during the incident.

“The disturbing part about it is that there was a police report that was filed. The officer indicates she sees everything the crossing guard said happened but the video is totally contradictory,” Keatts said. “He never drove into her, as the allegation suggests, therefore she wasn’t hurt. And he left slowly when he was able to leave.”

Lt. Jacklyn Davis, a spokesperson for the Anne Arundel County Police Department, said the department is aware of the video and looking into it.

Keatts asked the state to drop the charges that are still active as of Wednesday.