The father of Gerard Mungo Jr., the 7-year-old whose arrest for sitting on a dirt bike drew national outrage and prompted an apology from Baltimore City Mayor Sheila Dixon, was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge.
Gerard Mungo Sr. said he was detained after he broke up a fight outside his East Baltimore home.
“I had blood on my shirt, so they asked me questions,” he said. “They arrested me, because I wouldn?t tell them what was going on.”
Trouble started for Mungo Sr. when several neighborhood friends got into a fight early Saturday morning. Mungo said he intervened, and then police arrested him. After spending six hours in the city?s Central Booking facility, Mungo said he was released without charges.
He said he did not start the fight.
“I was just trying to break it up,” he said.
City prosecutors said they could not locate charging documents for Mungo?s case by press time. Police spokesman Sterling Clifford declined to comment.
The arrest marks the third time in a little more than a year that a member of the Mungo family has been arrested and subsequently released, and Gerard Mungo Sr. said he hoped he would be the last.
“When is this going to end?” he asked.
In March 2007, his son, Gerard Mungo Jr., was arrested on charges of sitting on a dirt bike outside his East Baltimore home. The arrest ignited a storm of controversy over the city?s aggressive arrest policy and sparked complaints from community leaders.
Two weeks later, Mungo?s mother, Likisa Dinkins, was arrested and charged with interfering with a drug investigation, but her charges were dropped. Dinkins said she was arrested for speaking out about her son?s arrest.
Free from jail and not facing charges, Mungo Sr. said his only complaint was that police officers confiscated his driver?s license, which he said he needs to transport his son to and from basketball practice.
“There?s no reason to keep my license,” the father said. “I need it.”
