Baltimore Cop Suspended After Drug Video Released: Commissioner

BALTIMORE, MD - One officer has been suspended in a case of possible evidence tampering that was captured on body camera, Baltimore's top cop said.

The police department launched an investigation after the public defender's office released body camera footage in court that showed an officer appearing to plant drugs at a crime scene.

As the investigation begins, a total of three officers have had their duties modified, Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

"This is is a serious allegation of police misconduct," Davis said: "...as serious as it gets."

Watch: Baltimore Officer's Body Cam Video Creates Doubts About Drug Find

The body camera footage showed an interaction in the 2200 block of Eager Street after 9 a.m. on Jan. 24, according to Deputy Commissioner Jason Johnson.

Officers seized 25 capsules of suspected heroin from someone in a vehicle, asked the individual where the drugs were obtained, then apprehended the alleged drug dealer in a nearby convenience store.

It is common for drug dealers to store drugs off their person in case they are caught, Johnson said, so officers searched a yard believed to have been where the dealer put his stash.

Public defender Debbie Katz Levi told Fox 45 that prosecutors dropped the drug charges once they saw the body camera video, which appeared to show one officer planting a bag of drugs in the yard.

That officer had police powers suspended, while two others are on administrative duty that does not include contact with the public, the commissioner said.

"It's certainly a possibility that we're looking into to see if the officers in fact replaced drugs that they had already discovered in order to document their discovery with their body-worn cameras on," Davis said. "That's certainly...a consideration."

Added Davis: "That's a possibility that we're looking into, but again, it's going to be an investigation that's going to take a little bit of time until we determine exactly what happened."

Authorities were "far from reaching a conclusion," he said Wednesday, adding that there were potential "mitigating factors" in the investigation, which is ongoing.

"If evidence was planted, we'll certainly take assertive action if that's the case," Davis said. "Right now, there's more unanswered questions than answered questions."

Still from Baltimore Police video.