BALTIMORE — The State's Attorney for Baltimore City's office will not be charging the officer who struck a woman a few days ago, on camera, officials say.
They concluded that "upon attempting to place the Involved Citizen under arrest, she struck Officer #1 in the head, and despite being restrained by the Involved Officer after the first strike, she struck Officer #1 in the head a second time, it would be objectively reasonable for the Involved Officer to conclude that the safety of Officer #1 was at risk."
"We have completed a thorough review of this unfortunate incident, and while we strongly disagree with the action the Officer took, it does not rise to the level of illegality," said Zy Richardson in a statement, "The Officer had other options he could have pursued to de-escalate the situation rather than striking the woman with a closed fist, and we recommend that BPD review this officer’s conduct in the immediate instance, consider his past record of conduct, and take appropriate internal action."
The report concluded that the decision to use force was justified under the Maryland law of self-defense and that just because the Involved Officer’s conduct was not criminal does not mean that it was exemplary.
