MTA officer accused of assaulting man who wouldn't put shirt on at Metro Station

BALTIMORE — A Maryland Transit Administration officer has been charged with assault stemming from an incident on June 20, 2020.

According to the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office, it all started over a man not wearing a shirt on the platform of the Rogers Avenue Metro Station.

Officer Aaron Sewell approached Kaiya Parker, telling him that a shirt must be worn in order to board a train.

But, prosecutors say there wasn't even a train at the platform for Parker to board at the time.

The shirtless Parker apparently kept walking, prompting Sewell to step in front with an outreached hand that allegedly happened to touch Parker's chest.

Parker swatted Sewell’s hand away, which allegedly caused the officer to hit Parker multiple times in the face, before slamming him to the ground.

During the altercation Parker picked up a trash can, although prosecutors believe he was using it to stabilize himself not to hit Sewell.

Online court records show Parker was arrested following the incident and charged with failure to obey a lawful order.

Those records indicate he was released from prison on December 7, when the case was ultimately placed on the inactive (STET) docket.

If convicted, Sewell could face more than 10-year behind bars.

"According to the indictment, Officer Sewell used an unnecessary amount of force or violence and the amount of force used was unreasonable in light of the severity of the incident and urgency of its disposition," said Zy Richardson of the State's Attorney's Office, in a release. "Officer Sewell’s actions were inconsistent with the MTA Use of Force policy. Officer Sewell was a sworn police officer, acting under color of his office and the assault was not accidental, consented to, nor legally justified," Richardson continued.