BALTIMORE — Body-worn camera footage shows Corporals Kieran Schnell and Eddie Vasquez at the crash scene just after midnight on December 7 of 2023 where 22-year-old Damione Gardner lost his life.
“In this case, it was the Gardner family who suffered the greatest of losses and my thoughts remain with them,” said Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.
While it was obvious, a White Infiniti sedan had struck a utility pole in Pasadena at a high rate of speed, what wasn’t apparent until later was that the officers pursued the vehicle in a pair of patrol cars at speeds in excess of a hundred miles per hour without every calling it in or receiving the authority to give chase.
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In the hours following the crash, state prosecutors say neither of the officers mentioned they had been involved in a high-speed chase.
It wasn’t until the following day when their body-worn camera footage was reviewed that investigators learned they hadn’t told the whole truth.
“It’s not a judgment about the pursuit,” said Independent Investigations Division Chief Allison Green, “This is not a judgment about the lawfulness of the pursuit or the police department’s policies. Rather, these charges in this case are based upon specific facts involving untruthfulness.”
While Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad released a statement on social media over the weekend saying based on the department’s initial investigation, “We are not award of any conduct demonstrated by our officers that raised to the level of a violation of criminal law”, Brown says it’s what those officers failed to do.
“Had they revealed the truth about their actions, they would have been removed from the scene and placed on administrative duty pending an investigation,” said Brown, “because of the officers’ material misrepresentations and omissions on December 7th, 2023, prosecution for Misconduct in Office is appropriate and necessary.”
