Officer Who Struck Woman During Altercation Will Not Be Charged

BALTIMORE, MD ­— The Baltimore police officer who struck a woman after she hit another officer twice during a street altercation over the weekend will not be charged, according to Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

According to a report issued by Mosby’s office, the officer had the legal right to defend his fellow officer. But in deciding not to criminally charge the officer, Mosby said that the Baltimore Police Department should conduct an internal review of the matter and said that the officer could have used alternative measures in apprehending the woman. Neither officer was named in Mosby's report.

“Deciding not to charge because the conduct was within what the law allows does not mean that we endorse the Involved Officer’s conduct,” Mosby’s office wrote in a report. “BPD should train officers to exercise restraint in every situation, even those where Maryland law allows less restraint than we would prefer to see.”

Over the weekend, the police department announced that the officer who struck the woman has been placed on administrative leave pending the completion of an internal investigation. The incident was captured on video and posted to Instagram and Twitter – footage that police officials characterized as disturbing. The woman has since been arrested.

On Tuesday, the police released body camera footage of the incident in which, according to Mosby’s report, occurred after the woman twice drove her car toward a police officer who was keeping traffic from getting through at the intersection of Baltimore and Gay streets at 10:30 May 29. The area, police said, had been heavily trafficked due to protests rallying against the police-involved death of George Floyd last week in Minneapolis.

According to Mosby's report, the driver then got out of her vehicle, yelled “shoot me” at the officer and then sat down in the middle of the street. The woman then got up and spat at the officer and walked toward him. After he attempted to apprehend the woman and place her under arrest.

During a struggle with the officer, the woman broke free and struck the officer twice in the face before a second officer approached her from behind and struck her with closed fist, which, according to the report, caused the woman to fall to the ground.

In her report, Mosby wrote it is “objectively reasonable” for the second officer to conclude that his fellow officer was at risk, which makes his decision to strike the woman justifiable.