BALTIMORE, MD — The Baltimore County police officer indicted by a grand jury last week on charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, excessive use of force, and misconduct in office, was previously disciplined internally for assaulting another officer, documents obtained by WMAR-2 News show.
The charges against Corporal Zachary Small stem from a September 27 incident in which a suspect escaped from police custody at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Charges were filed in Baltimore City by State's Attorney Ivan Bates.
Body camera footage from the incident was released by the police department on Tuesday, and shows Cpl. Small pepper sprayed the man while he was handcuffed and had his legs shackled, after telling him to stop banging his head against the window. He closed the door immediately after spraying him; department policy requires officers to offer someone water and a towel as soon as possible after spraying them.
The man repeatedly asked officers to either roll the window down or turn on the air conditioning, because he was having trouble breathing in the back of the patrol car. After another officer can be heard saying, "he's trying to break the window," Cpl. Small is shown pulling the man out of the car, pushing him to the ground, and pulling his head back by his hair, saying "You asked for it. I warned you," and later, "You already escaped once, what do you think you're gonna get?"
The suspect had previously been charged with resisting/interfering with arrest in May 2023. He pleaded guilty to that charge in January and was sentenced to 9 months in prison.
WMAR-2 News filed a Public Information Act request for a history of internal affairs investigations and complaints filed against Corporal Small. He was suspended for 20 days in 2007 for an incident in which he assaulted another officer while off-duty, during a domestically related dispute. No other details were provided. He was also suspended for 5 days in 2021 after he was involved in an "out-of-policy motor vehicle pursuit."
An attorney for Cpl. Small previously told WMAR-2 News regarding his current charges: “My client is a twenty-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department. Before that, he served his country honorably in the army as a military police officer for six years. Like all citizens, Officer Small is entitled to the presumption of innocence I would ask everyone to reserve judgment until the facts come out at trial. When they do, we are confident that he will be fully exonerated."
He is currently suspended. Two other county police officers are also suspended after being charged with misconduct in office for the same incident. Jacob Roos and Justin Graham-Moore are accused of failing to intervene, violating a new state law that requires officers to intervene when another officer is displaying excessive use of force. State's Attorney Ivan Bates says this is the first time his office has charged anyone with the crime.
In releasing the body camera footage this week, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough also issued this statement:
"The Baltimore County Police Department launched an investigation after discovering an incident in Baltimore City that involved a use of force. Since the incident took place in a neighboring jurisdiction, the Department followed standard operating procedures and informed local authorities. The Baltimore County Police Department takes pride in its commitment to transparency and meeting the expectations of the community. “I expect members of the Baltimore County Police Department to treat all people with the utmost dignity and respect."
All of the indicted officers have their first court dates on March 13.