Holly MatkinBaltimore, MD – A Baltimore police sergeant was kicked and beaten by a group of hecklers as he wrestled with a combative suspect on the ground (video below).
The incident occurred shortly after 12 a.m. on Saturday, as the sergeant was conducting a business check at an establishment on Pennsylvania Avenue, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison told The Baltimore Sun.
During the course of his duties, a male inside the business began arguing with the sergeant and spat in his face.
Cell phone footage showed the sergeant as he struggled on the ground with the combative suspect while he attempted to place him under arrest.
Bystanders surrounded the lone sergeant and began kicking him and laughing as he the brawl ensued.
“Beat him! Beat him!” one witnessed yelled.
Another person attempted to drag the suspect out of the sergeant’s grasp at one point, but the sergeant was able to maintain his grip despite the ongoing assault.
None of the bystanders tried to assist or defend the sergeant during the attack, the video showed.
“Our critics say police officers aren’t under attack, spare us your non-sense, the statistics and daily viral videos tell the real tale,” the National Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement about the incident. “And people wonder why law enforcement applications are down 63% in this country. The FOP stands with the hard working men and women of law enforcement, do you?”
One person was arrested, but police are still trying to identify the suspects who attacked the officer, The Baltimore Sun reported.
“We have a simple message for everyone involved. Do yourselves a favor and surrender,” Baltimore Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young said in a statement. “That type of behavior will not be tolerated and each person arrested will be held accountable.”
Commissioner Harrison also said that attacks on the city’s law enforcement officers “will not be tolerated,” The Baltimore Sun reported.
“Based on our preliminary review of the incident, the sergeant did nothing to provoke the assault, and the sergeant should be commended for using the appropriate amount of force to apprehend his assailant,” the commissioner said.
“I am outraged, as any resident of Baltimore should be, by this incident,” he added. “We cannot, and will not, allow any member of the public, or one of our officers, to be assaulted.”
Once the suspects are identified, “they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Commissioner Harrison vowed.
The sergeant is now recovering from his injuries, FOP spokesperson Sergeant Mike Mancuso told The Baltimore Sun.
Sgt. Mancuso also blamed State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s “activist” agenda for perpetuating anti-police attitudes that spark such attacks.
“[This is] a perfect example where the consent decree and overbearing policies and an activist state’s attorney has gotten law enforcement in Baltimore,” he told The Baltimore Sun.
You can watch cell phone footage of the violent attack on the lone sergeant in the video below: