When Baltimore police officer William Pitt Jr. died in 2002, he left a hard-earned legacy to his only son: a $35,000 estate he earned as a 25-year veteran of the force.
But now his son, William Pitt III, said that part of his father?s legacy was taken by Baltimore City police during what he claims was a false arrest.
“They said, ?This money is seized; your money?s gone,?” Pitt told The Examiner.
Pitt said after he cashed a check from his father?s estate in November, he was on his way to go shopping with nearly $20,000.
“Basically I was going to buy stuff for the house, a TV for my mother,” he said. But Pitt said he was pulled over by police in East Baltimore and removed from his friend?s car at gunpoint during a traffic stop.
“They pulled me out of the car, guns pointed, and said we were under arrest,” Pitt said.
Pitt said police searched the car, then told him he was being arrested for possession of a gun ? a charge he disputes.
“I never saw the gun, and I didn?t have one on me,” he said.
Charging documents state that $3,850 in cash was taken from Pitt, but he said the amount was closer to $20,000.
“I?m really upset. I?m angry,” he said.
Backing up Pitt?s story is former city police officer and attorney Robert Smith, who has put the city on notice by filing a claim for the money, a preliminary step to suing the department.
“I put them on notice we intend to file a lawsuit, and I intend to,” he said.
The police charged Pitt with possession of handgun, but the city state?s attorney declined to prosecute the case due to lack of probable cause, the city state?s attorney said.
Police officials said they have the gun and $3,850 in cash and are willing to return the money provided Pitt fills out the proper paperwork.
“We sent his lawyer a letter on the second of August, saying that in order to get the money he has to file the proper paperwork,” police spokesman Matt Jablow said.
But Smith said Thursday that he has received a confirmation of his claims.
The officer who arrested Pitt and confiscated the cash is currently suspended from the force for a different matter, Jablow said.
For Pitt, despite the fact he?s the son of a fomer police officer, the experience is not surprising.
“My father was a different breed of officer. They did things a lot different; they gave [people] more respect,” he said.
“Now police treat people like a lesser form of life.”
