A Baltimore teenager was arrested early Wednesday morning and accused of assaulting a photographer from the Baltimore Examiner working on a story about school violence outside Reginald F. Lewis High School.
The 18-year-old male is being processed at Baltimore City?s Central Booking facility on charges stemming from the April 24 incident involving photographer Arianne Starnes, 24.
Baltimore Examiner Publisher Michael Beatty thanked police for their quick work.
“Right now we?re going to let the criminal justice system work and continue to do a fair and objective job of reporting this story just as we would any other story,” Beatty said in a statement. “Our reporters and photographers are committed to getting the job done for our readers no matter what.”
Members of the Warrant Apprehension Task Force arrested the teen at 6:40 a.m. Wednesday. The teen?s name will be published after he is formally processed.
One day before the incident involving Starnes, the teen had been released from Central Booking on charges of marijuana possession and second-degree assault, court records show.
Starnes said she fell to the ground after the student came out of a group of about 20 other students and tried to take her camera. The student accused her of taking his picture outside the high school, which Starnes said she never took his picture.
The student allegedly grabbed Starnes? cameras, tugging at the straps, police said.
After a struggle, Starnes said she was pushed backward to the ground. She fell on her cameras and immediately stood up but was again confronted by the student, who this time pointed his finger at her head and pretended to shoot her, saying “I told you not to take a f—— picture.”
Starnes said police showed her a photo lineup from which she identified the teen.
