Footage shows officer placing drugs in trash; goes out to street, turns on camera, returns. Cams save 30 sec prior to activation, w/o sound pic.twitter.com/5ZW128lWFM
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) July 19, 2017
Baltimore’s public defender’s office has released bodyworn camera footage that appears to show a police officer planting drugs, as first reported by Fox45.
The Baltimore Police Department is now investigating the alleged act of misconduct, which the city’s public defender’s office says took place in January.
The footage shows the officer placing a soup can on a mound of trash inside an alley. He then walks back to the street to join two other officers and activates his bodyworn camera. Seconds later, he says “I’m going to go check here,” walks back into the alley and pulls out the soup can, which has pills inside.
Baltimore’s police cameras save the 30 seconds before they are turned on, which explains how the officer’s actions in the alley were recorded without his apparent knowledge.
After learning about the video, prosecutors dropped the charges against the man charged for the drugs. An attorney from the public defender’s office told the Baltimore Sun that his client had been in jail since January on a $50,000 bail that he couldn’t afford to pay.
Buzzfeed News identified the officer as Richard Pinheiro, and reported that he’s believed to be a witness in more than 50 active cases.
A police spokesperson told DCist that the department is holding a press conference at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, which will be live-streamed. They also plan to release additional bodyworn camera video related to the incident.
He wouldn’t confirm any other details about the allegations or investigation.
This post will be updated.