Seven more Baltimore cops are caught on body cameras ‘planting drugs in a car’ days after another video was released ‘showing an officer planting evidence’
Seven Baltimore cops are caught on body cameras ‘planting drugs in a car’ days after another video was released ‘showing an officer placing evidence’
Public defender’s office recently released a body camera video that it said showed an officer planting a bag of drugs in a back yard as two other officers looked on
From the ensuing investigations, officer Richard Pinheiro, whose camera was recording and who was handling the alleged drugs in the video, was suspended
The two others, Officers Hovhannes Simonyan and Jamal Brunson were also placed on administrative duty
Latest footage from police cameras footage allegedly shows the seven officers planting drugs in Baltimore during a car search which led to arrest
Dozens of drug- and firearm-related cases now dismissed by State Attorney
The 34 cases relied on evidence from the three officers in the video
In addition, some 100 cases are currently under review as a result
Caught: This video emerged earlier this week, and shows a Baltimore police officer planting what is alleged to be heroin which were later used to arrest a man for drugs offences. The case was dismissed on review.
The footage is claimed to show several officers in the Maryland city collaborating to place drugs in a car which were later found during a search which led to an arrest.
Related stories:
Baltimore police officer caught on his own body camera ‘planting drugs at the scene of a crime to incriminate a defendant’ – Public defender outraged
The Baltimore Public Defender’s office said Monday that it has a second police body-camera video that “appears to depict multiple officers working together to manufacture evidence.”
It said related charges against one of its clients were dropped Monday in Baltimore Circuit Court.
The same office recently released a body camera video that it said showed an officer planting a bag of drugs in a back yard as two other officers looked on. Police and prosecutors both launched investigations into that footage.
The police department meanwhile suspended Officer Richard Pinheiro, whose camera was recording and who was handling the alleged drugs in the video, and placed the two others — Officers Hovhannes Simonyan and Jamal Brunson, on administrative duty.
Scenes from the first released ‘Drug planting’ bodycam video, also features two other police officers
The camera pans the other two cops on the beat with the ‘drug planting’ officer
The latest video allegedly show the search of a car in Baltimore, with officers turning the cameras off and on several times.
‘When the cameras come back on one officer is seen squatting by the driver’s seat area. The group of officers then wait approximately 30 seconds,’ the Baltimore Public Defender’s office said in a statement to the Baltimore Sun.
‘Shortly thereafter, another officer asks if the area by that compartment has been searched.
‘Nobody responds, and the officer reaches in and locates a bag that appears to contain drugs right by where the prior officer was, and where the car had been thoroughly searched about a half an hour prior with absolutely no results.’
This case involves seven officers, two of whom have been referred to the police department’s internal affairs division.
Media outlets say the public defender’s office won’t release the video because it shows a co-defendant whom it doesn’t represent.
Office of Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby [photo], Friday said it is reviewing 123 cases which relied on the testimony of the affected police officers.
Some 34 criminal cases have been dismissed and 123 more are under review as they relied on the evidence of the three officers who appear in the video
Earlier this week, it was reported that 34 drugs and firearms cases have been dismissed in Baltimore after another video showed police officers appearing to be planting evidence.
A police officer was recorded on his own body camera confiscating what is alleged to be heroin which he then places in a tin can at an undisclosed location in January this year.
The video is filmed with a mounted body camera and shows a man said to be a police officers stopping a vehicle and demanding the driver opens the door.
‘I want what you just bought boss’,’ the officer can be heard saying to the driver.
The driver hands a small wrapped bundle to the police officer.
The footage then cuts to the officer walking near a house with two other men wearing police vests.
The camera clearly shows a small plastic bag being unwrapped and displaying several pellets of what is allegedly heroin.
The police officer in the video has been suspended, after his own bodycam showed him placing the bag of pellets inside a tin can and puts it down on the ground, before calling out to his partners
The drugs were later used to arrest at least one individual, local news reports.
The body camera footage was released by public defender’s office earlier this year.
The cases dismissed relied on the testimony of the three officers appearing in the video and Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said at a news conference Friday that her office is still reviewing dozens of other cases involving the officers.
The cases being dropped are drug- or firearm-related.
That officer has had his police powers suspended. Two others shown in the video are on administrative duty.
Police are investigating the video.
Mosby previously said the number of cases under review was around 100. Friday she said it is approximately 123.
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