Baltimore Circuit Judge Paul E. Alpert has acquitted Cpl. Zachary Small of Baltimore County Police on charges of assault and misconduct stemming from a physical encounter during the arrest of an escapee. According to the Baltimore Sun, Small, who faced allegations of using excessive force, including pepper-spraying and pulling the hair of a handcuffed suspect, requested a bench trial and was cleared of all counts.
During Justin Russell's arrest on September 27, 2023, body camera footage showed an officer spraying him in the face with pepper spray while he was handcuffed in the back of a cruiser. This happened after Russell, a suspect in an armed robbery, had escaped custody at Johns Hopkins Hospital and started banging his head against the patrol car window, saying he couldn’t breathe. Judge Alpert reviewed the situation and concluded that the officer's actions, including using pepper spray and pulling Russell's hair, were justified for legitimate law enforcement reasons and did not amount to assault or reckless endangerment. Alpert noted that Russell could have broken the window and injured himself, which justified the officer's response.
The acquittal on September 18, 2024, was met with divisive reactions, particularly from Baltimore State's Attorney Ivan Bates, who disparaged Judge Alpert's apparent disconnect with modern policing, saying "This type of behavior is what led to Baltimore City being under a consent decree," as WMAR-2 News reported Bates's criticism regarding the 89-year-old judge's remarks downplaying the severity when he remarked that this case was not the second coming of George Floyd or Freddie Gray.
Prosecutors argued that Cpl. Small's actions were excessive and unnecessary, claiming the situation could have been handled without such force. Small's attorney dismissed these claims as "Monday morning quarterbacking." At the same time, two other officers present during the arrest also face misconduct charges for not intervening, as the debate over police conduct continues in Baltimore, as reported by the Baltimore Sun.
