*The Baltimore police officer who was caught on video repeatedly punching a man has quit the force amid growing outrage.
In the video posted online Saturday, the unidentified officer can be seen pushing and then repeatedly slugging a suspect who doesn’t appear to fight back. The cop had originally been suspended for the incident, but he tendered his resignation on Sunday, according to Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle.
“The officer involved in yesterday’s incident is no longer with the Baltimore Police Department. Interim Commissioner Tuggle has accepted his resignation,” the statement said.
UPDATE:
The officer involved in yesterday’s incident is no longer with the BPD. Interim Commissioner Tuggle has accepted his resignation. The second officer remains on administrative duties. This remains an active criminal investigation.— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) August 13, 2018
Attorney Warren Brown, who is representing the man who was punched, identified his client as Dashawn McGrier, 26. Brown said McGrier was not being charged with a crime, but was taken to a hospital and was having X-rays taken of his jaw, nose and ribs late Saturday for suspected fractures from the altercation, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Brown said McGrier had a previous run-in with the same police officer — whom he identified as Officer Arthur Williams — in June that resulted in McGrier being charged with assaulting the officer, disorderly conduct, obstructing and hindering, and resisting arrest. Brown said that in that incident and in the one Saturday, McGrier was targeted without justification by the officer.
“It seems like this officer had just decided that Dashawn was going to be his punching bag,” Brown said. “And this was a brutal attack that was degrading and demeaning to my client, to that community, and to the police department.”
Below, more details of the arrest via The Baltimore Sun:
The police department said the incident Saturday began after two officers stopped McGrier, let him go, then approached him again to give him a citizen contact sheet.
“When he was asked for his identification, the situation escalated when he refused,” the department said. “The police officer then struck the man several times.”
Brown said McGrier was sitting on steps when Williams passed by in his vehicle, then moments later was walking down the street when the officer, now on foot, told him to stop without giving him a reason.
“My client was saying, ‘What is this all about? You don’t even have probable cause,’ ” Brown said. That’s when Williams began shoving McGrier, Brown said.
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