Baltimore Police Officer Charged For Assaulting Another Cop Responding to Call Over Dead Stepson
In connection with the death of his 15-year-old stepson, a Baltimore police officer got charged for assaulting another officer and is being suspended until an investigation is completed.
On Wednesday, police said Officer Eric G. Banks Jr., a three-year veteran of the Baltimore police force, got charged with assault, reckless endangerment and resisting/interfering with an arrest, among other things when an incident involving his stepson occurred inside an Anne Arundel County house, The Baltimore Sun reported.
Full details regarding the situation, like name of the teenager, specifics regarding the circumstances, and the cause of death of the teenager or who killed the teenager, have not been explained.
However, homicide detectives were on the scene and the cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner.
It is reported that Banks “became combative and tried to disarm an officer” while some officers were trying to provide medical assistance to the teen in an upstairs room.
The police were called in around 5 p.m., Anne Arundel County police said in a release.
“The officer requested assistance and several officers responded to the scene and were able to safely take Eric Banks into custody,” police said. “As a result of Banks’ actions toward the responding officer, an arrest warrant was obtained.”
Banks, 34, has not been filed in the state’s online court database and it is not clear if the suspended officer has legal representation, The Sun reported.
Banks originally told responding officers that the teen was not inside the house, having left his belongings behind, but the police and medics found the teen unresponsive inside the a townhouse home that the Banks owns, according to state taxation and assessment records.
Police executed several search warrants, interviewed witnesses and collected “multiple items of evidence” at the scene, officials said.
Baltimore Police Department spokeswoman Lindsey Eldridge said Banks’ has been stripped of his police powers and “remain suspended while this current case is investigated by the Anne Arundel County Police Department.”
Banks earned a $54,454 salary with a gross pay of $88,933 during the 2020 fiscal year, according to city records.