3 Baltimore Police Officers Indicted On Theft, Misconduct Charges

BALTIMORE, MD — One former and two current Baltimore City police officers were indicted on Tuesday after prosecutors accused them of theft, forgery and misconduct in separate cases involving wage theft.

Lt. Welai Grant, Sgt. Mark Rutkowski and former Officer Harrison Brandon were all named in the indictment released by the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office Public Trust & Police Integrity Unit.

"Public servants take an oath to serve our communities with integrity and accountability. When that trust is broken, it undermines the very foundation of public service,” said State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates. “Allegations that officers manipulated their time to collect wages they did not earn are not just violations of policy — they are theft from the taxpayers who fund these salaries."

According to prosecutors, Grant was indicted on one count of theft between $1,500 and $25,000 and two counts of misconduct in office.

Prosecutors said Grant was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant and was assigned to the Southern District. Following the promotion, Grant allegedly began not showing up for her overnight shifts, despite logging the hours on her timesheet and being paid for those evenings. This occurred on eight separate occasions between September and November 2025, according to prosecutors.

Rutkowski was indicted on one count of theft between $1,500 and $25,000 and three counts of misconduct in office.

According to prosecutors, Rutkowski is accused of inflating the hours he was being paid to work by clocking in when he left his house and not clocking out until he got home. A small amount of overtime was paid each day for these non-worked hours, prosecutors said.

Additionally, Rutkowski is accused of logging in to another employee’s computer to cancel his own leave, triggering both overtime and “penalty pay,” as stipulated by the police collective bargaining agreement, for the canceled leave.

Finally, Brandon was indicted on one count of forgery, two counts of identity fraud, one count of theft between $100 and $1500, and two counts of misconduct in office.

According to the indictment, beginning in August 2024, Brandon submitted fraudulent doctor’s notes while he was working as a Baltimore police officer to obtain sick leave pay. This occurred on five separate occasions, prosecutors said.

Following notification of the investigation into his alleged actions, Brandon resigned from the department.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said an investigation into the two current officers will be led by the department's Public Integrity Division in partnership with the State’s Attorney’s Office.

"Two of the police officers charged today are current members of this department and have allegedly defrauded the communities we are sworn to protect and serve," Worley said in a statement. " We will continue to hold officers accountable while preserving the trust placed in this department."