An Annapolis police officer shot and killed a man struggling to take a Maryland state trooper?s gun late Friday, a police spokesman said.
It was the third police-involved shooting in Anne Arundel County in four days. The earlier two involved county police and weren?t fatal.
The dead man was identified as Roger Alan Trott of Caroline County.
In Friday?s incident, Trooper First Class Billy Smith of the Annapolis Barracks saw what he believed was a drug deal at about 10:30 p.m. between a man in a car and a man on the street in the Bowman Court area.
According to police reports, as the trooper approached, the man on the street ran away. Thetrooper noticed that the man in the car had something in his mouth and told him to spit it out. Instead, the man drove away, dragging the trooper along by the arm after the trooper reached through the window to try to get the keys out of the ignition.
The trooper was dragged more than 300 feet before the car crashed and the driver ran away. The trooper returned to his cruiser and found the suspect again near the intersection of Moreland Parkway and Admiral Drive, police said.
The trooper had a passenger with him ? an applicant for the State Police Academy riding along for the night. Police did not release the applicant?s name.
“It?s part of the application process for prospective cadets to see what they?re getting into,” said an Annapolis police spokesman, Officer First Class Kevin Freeman. “He definitely saw it firsthand.”
As Smith got out to confront Trott again, Trott tried to get into the police car through the passenger side and gain control of the vehicle, police said.
Smith unsuccessfully tried to use his pepper spray, and Trott managed to grab Smith?s gun, police said.
One shot was fired during the fight for the gun, grazing the prospective cadet.
Both Smith and his passenger were later treated and released from area hospitals, police said.
Officer Sean McGarvey of the Annapolis police arrived during the struggle and shot Trott when it appeared he was about to shoot Smith, police said.
Seeing that Trott?s finger was near the trigger and he was attempting to raise the gun toward Smith, McGarvey ordered him to drop the weapon, police said. When he didn?t, McGarvey fired a single shot that fatally injured Trott, police said.
McGarvey, who has served with the Annapolis police for one year and another department for five years before that, has been placed on routine administrative leave during the investigation, Freeman said.
The incident is currently under investigation by both the Annapolis police and the state police.
