Frederick Man Indicted After Food Lion Beating Leaves Victim With Fractured Skull

A Frederick County grand jury has indicted a 22-year-old Frederick man on first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and reckless endangerment charges stemming from a July beating outside a Food Lion that left the victim with a fractured eye socket, a scratched cornea, and a broken tooth. Corey Anthony McCallister is being held without bail while his attorney pushes for his release to home detention, and a second man charged in the same attack has yet to be tracked down by authorities.

According to The Frederick News-Post, McCallister allegedly struck and kicked another man outside the Food Lion at 6920 Crestwood Blvd. in Frederick, punching him about five times in the head and kicking him twice in the head or face after the man tried to get up. Medical personnel reported the victim suffered a fractured orbital bone, a scratched cornea, and a fractured tooth as a result of the attack, per the paper's report. McCallister was arrested on July 18.

The second man charged in the case, 30-year-old Barry Leroy Finley, was charged with second-degree assault in connection with the July 16 incident. Investigators allege Finley pulled the victim from a vehicle and kicked him once during the confrontation, the outlet reports.

Investigators Say Video and Witnesses Cracked the Case

Frederick County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Katie Robine said investigators identified those involved through surveillance video and witness interviews, the same account notes. The Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Section routinely juggles more than 200 active cases a month covering violent crimes and property offenses, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, underscoring the volume of work behind identifying suspects in cases like this one.

Finley's whereabouts remain an open question. A court summons for him was returned after an officer indicated he could not be found, and Robine confirmed the summons was returned to court. She did not say whether Finley had since been served, the report states. Under Maryland court rules, a criminal summons stays active for 60 days before an unserved writ is returned to the clerk of court, according to the People's Law Library — after which prosecutors or investigators may seek an arrest warrant to bring a suspect in.

Felony Charge Carries Up to 25 Years

McCallister's indictment moves his case out of District Court and into Circuit Court, where the felony first-degree assault charge will be tried before a judge or jury. Under Maryland Criminal Law § 3-202, first-degree assault is a felony carrying a maximum statutory penalty of up to 25 years in prison, according to the Palumbo Law Group, since the charge requires prosecutors to prove intentional causation of serious physical injury or an assault involving a firearm.

The second-degree assault counts against both men carry lesser but still significant exposure. Second-degree assault is generally a misdemeanor in Maryland punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $2,500 fine, per Hartman Attorneys at Law. McCallister's reckless endangerment charge, meanwhile, is a misdemeanor punishable by up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both, according to FindLaw, since the statute penalizes conduct creating a substantial risk of death or serious injury regardless of whether harm actually occurred.

Defense Seeks Home Detention, Says Discovery Still Pending

McCallister's attorney, Selina Ema Al-Rashkoul, has filed a request for another bail review seeking his release to home detention. She told the newspaper she was not prepared to comment further because she had not yet reviewed all of the state's discovery, leaving open the possibility that evidentiary questions around the surveillance footage or witness identifications could surface as the case moves through Circuit Court.

The alleged beating happened in the parking lot of a Food Lion inside Crestwood Plaza, a major retail center serving the Ballenger Creek community south of downtown Frederick, according to a LoopNet listing for the property. Frederick County, the largest county by land area in Maryland at roughly 660 square miles, has seen its overall violent crime numbers trend downward in recent years, with total Uniform Crime Report Part I offenses falling nearly 20 percent in 2020 and nearly 10 percent in 2021, according to figures released by Frederick County Government and the Maryland State Police.