Baltimore police have launched an investigation of a police officer after cell phone video appears to show him spitting on a handcuffed man, authorities said.
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Everything about the alleged spitting, the arrest itself and the disorderly conduct and assault charges against the man is undergoing a “full-blown internal investigation”, Davis said.
On Wednesday, police announced the arrest of 26-year-old Michael Daye, of Baltimore, who police say drove the shooter to and from the crime scene.
Sgt. Robert Mesner, who has been with the Baltimore Police Department for 34 years, is being criminally and internally investigated and his police powers have been suspended, according to Davis.
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Although the footage is dark, about five seconds into the video you can see an officer standing over the man and jerking his head downward, City Paper reports. Several people in the crowd can be heard screaming, “He just spit on him!” “That is outrageously unacceptable and it directly contradicts the necessary community relationships we are striving to rehabilitate”, Davis said. “Our entire community deserves to be treated with dignity and respect”, Davis said. Baltimore police will begin wearing body cameras later this month, a move prompted in part by the fallout after the April death of Freddie Gray. Six police officers – three black, three white – are charged in Gray’s arrest and death.
