A grand jury indicted a Baltimore police officer who allegedly assaulted a man on crutches after he refused to put on a face mask while inside a grocery store.
Officer Andre Maurice Pringle threw Brandon Walker to the ground outside a Shoppers grocery store in Baltimore in April, according to prosecutors. He was charged with one count of second-degree assault and one count of misconduct in office.
“Officer Pringle, who was in full BPD uniform at the time, approached Walker and advised him that he had to leave the store,” prosecutors said, according to NBC News. “The two began walking towards the exit. Walker was yelling and cursing at Officer Pringle as they continued towards the automated entry/exit doors.”
A press release from the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office following the incident said Walker, who had a cast on his foot and was bracing himself with a crutch, refused to put his mask on and that the store’s manager called the police. Pringle said Walker “glared” at him, which set the officer off.
“The contact which started with the shove and continued through the arrest resulted in intentional, harmful, offensive, and unwanted touching by Officer Pringle,” the release stated. “The physical assaults were not accidental, consented to, nor legally justified.”
