Trooper who aided O’s fan charged with assault

A Maryland state trooper, who received national attention for coming to the aid of a man critically hurt at an Orioles game in 2013, has been charged with tracking downamanwhoflickedacigaretteat him and beating him up. Trooper 1st Class Nathan Steelman, 28, was charged with second-degree assault and misconduct in office for the incident, which police say occurred in December 2014. According to police, Steelman was off duty and in regular clothes when he walked by a car in a convenience store parking lot and a man allegedly flicked a cigarette at him. Anargument ensued, and the driver fled. Police say Steelman took note of the driver’s tag number, and after consulting with a supervisor was able to identify the driver and applied for charges from a court commissioner. Steelman went to the man’s house in Glen Burnie and arrested him on charges of second-degree assault. Steelman told investigators that the man threatened him and his family. Inside the Glen Burnie barrack, Steelman pushed the handcuffed man into a restroom door and struck him multiple times in the body with a closed fist, police say. At least one other trooper witnessed the incident and reported it. Maryland State Police conducted an investigation and referred it to the Anne Arundel County state’s attorney’s office, which determined the charges. No attorney was listed yet in court records for Steelman, who was issued a summons. An internal investigation was pending, police said. The charges against the man were eventually dropped. Steelman was interviewed on CNNabout his actions at the Orioles game. —