MILFORD MILL, Md. — The newly released 911 call, radio transmissions and body camera footage from both responding officers show how the situation escalated from a disturbance with a knife call to deployment of pepper spray, a tazer and the 76-year-old woman being thrown to the ground.
It all started on the afternoon of January 10 with a call to police about a boy who was hitting people and cars in Milford Mill neighborhood.
The caller, who is not either of the women arrested, said she had a knife. When Corporal Brennan got on scene, he tried to figure out what was going on and one woman, Cierra Floyd, was not helping with information, saying she didn’t want to talk to police and he almost immediately threatened her with a disorderly conduct arrest.
Soon after he gets on scene, Floyd starts shouting at Brennan, upset and said she doesn’t want to talk to police.
“If you want to get locked up for being disorderly we can go down that road but I’m not going to have you out here making more of a problem,” said Brennan. “Keep running your mouth. See where it ends up. You’ll end up in the back of my car.”
The situation continues to escalate with both of them yelling at each other, Floyd from her front door. This is from towards the end of the body camera footage:
Floyd: Am I supposed to be scared of you sir?
Brennan: I’m not trying to make you scared of me.
Floyd: Do you know who my people is?
Brennan: What?
Floyd: Your job will be mine by the end of this.
Brennan: Are you threatening me?
Floyd: Bye
Brennan: Are you threatening me?
Floyd: Bye. Watch out. Good luck trying to get in here.
Brennan: Finally you closed the door. Thank God.
Throughout his time on scene, she was screaming from her front porch and they both appeared to be antagonizing each other.
She finally shuts her door and it’s not clear what the officer does next or for how long. Floyd heads to her grandmother’s house to pick up her kids and body camera footage shows him walking up to that front door and grandmother 76-year-old Rena Mellerson answers, questioning what’s going on.
The officer says he’s arresting her granddaughter Cierra Floyd for disorderly conduct, and Mellerson first tells her to go with him but then the two shut the door on him.
His foot gets stuck in the door, so he uses a baton, a tazer and pepper spray to force his way in, while calling for back up.
When he makes his way in, this is what happens. Brennan tells her she is arrested for interfering with an arrest.
The officer who pulled her down, officer Schmidt, later says he did it because the corporal was trying to taze her and he saw her as an immediate threat.
"Every time I watch the video, I have more questions," said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr.
Both women are taken into custody.
This is what Officer Schmidt told Mellerson as he was walking her to the patrol car in handcuffs:
Officer Schmidt: One of our officers put out a signal 13 which means he’s in trouble and he needs help. That’s why we responded the way we did.
Mellerson: He stuck his foot in the darn door.
Schmidt: Well it’s his right to do that maam.
Mellerson: No it wasn’t.
Schmidt: It is. The reason I put you on the ground maam is because I saw the tazer probes in you.
Mellerson: I didn’t have no tazer probes in me!
Schmidt: He tried to taze you okay and I was seeing that you were an immediate threat at the time okay I just wanted to get you out of the way… No hard feelings, nothing personal.
Their attorney plans to file a lawsuit and they want to see the officers fired or retrained.
During the criminal and internal investigations, both have been placed in non-duty related positions.
