Officer recorded punching man could be charged

BALTIMORE » A Baltimore police officer recorded while repeatedly punching a man in a street confrontation has resigned, and investigators are looking at charging him with second-degree assault, Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle said Monday.

Tuggle said at a news conference that the officer’s use of “repeated head strikes” and attempts to take the man to the ground were “disturbing.” The officer’s actions were not acceptable, even if they were sparked by emotions, because an officer shouldn’t act on them, Tuggle added.

“We’re trained to act in a non-emotional way,” Tuggle said, adding that if an officer crosses the line, there needs to be intervention from a peer or a supervisor.

The video recorded Saturday begins with the officer standing in front of a black man who has his back to a wall. The officer, who is also black, can be seen shoving the man in the chest before the officer starts throwing punches. The man tries to block punches from the officer but doesn’t appear to fight back. The man is pushed over some steps by the officer who continues to throw punches, and the video ends with the officer on top of him.

Attorney Warren Brown said his client, 26-year-old Dashawn McGrier, was the man being punched in the video. McGrier was hospitalized Saturday and wasn’t charged, he said.