BALTIMORE — Baltimore City's Board of Estimates on Wednesday approved a $300,000 settlement with a local rapper who sued the police department last year over false imprisonment allegations.
Kevron Evans, who goes by the name Young Moose, specifically accused jailed former Gun Trace Task Force detective Daniel Hersl of planting drugs on him back in October of 2012. Prior to news of a potential settlement, Evans' lawyers had been asking a Baltimore Circuit judge to grant more than $1 million in damages.
City Council president Nick Mosby says this case shows gross incompetence by the GTTF officers who caused irreparable harm to the city. Mosby says there has to be trust between the BPD and the community and that officers who hurt the trust must be held accountable. @WMAR2News pic.twitter.com/y5Ko0hG6sy
— Mark Roper (@MarkRoperTV) June 1, 2022
Evans claimed he and a friend were leaving a bar at the corner of North and Collington Avenues, when they were approached by three officers.
Allegedly without cause, the officers searched both men before detaining Evans and letting the friend go, despite nothing illegal being found.
Evans' lawyers alleged those same officers then took their client to a different location to meet Hersl.
There, Hersl is said to have told the officers to search Evans a second time.
Again after finding nothing illegal, the rapper's attorneys say Hersl got something from his trunk and placed it inside Evans' pocket.
From there Hersl charged him with multiple drug felonies, which resulted in Evans being held on $2 million bail.
Evans ended up accepting a plea deal and received a suspended jail sentence and probation.
But Evans' lawyers said that wasn't the last of the case.
They claimed Hersl continued to harass and target Evans with false allegations, in an attempt to violate his probation.
On at least two occasions Evans alleged he was arrested right before taking the stage for a live performance.
This caused Evans to lose lucrative record labels and damage to his reputation, according to the suit.
In all, Evans reportedly spent about two-years in jail while fighting the charges against him.
The State’s Attorney’s Office ultimately dismissed all related charges in 2020.
At the time this lawsuit was filed Hersl's attorney, Timothy Sutton, told WMAR-2 News that his client denied ever planting evidence on anyone.
It's not however the first time that Hersl's name has come up in a lawsuit, in which officers were accused of planting evidence.
SEE ALSO: Baltimore City considers paying $195k to settle lawsuits involving Gun Trace Task Force members
In the past the department has tried to avoid paying lawsuit settlements stemming from the Gun Trace Task Force scandal, arguing that the officers involved acted outside the scope of their employment when they committed the crimes. But courts have since rebuffed that argument.
Hersl is currently serving 18 years behind bars after a federal jury convicted him in 2018 on racketeering charges.
None of those are connected to Evans' claims.
