The Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE — A city police officer has been charged with assault after being caught in a departmental sting in East Baltimore in which police say he hit an undercover police officer posing as a suspicious person, according to a department spokesman and court documents.
Officer Jerome X. Hill, 35, assigned to the Southeastern District, was arrested last night by two detectives from the Internal Affairs Division. Court documents say the officer did not give investigators a statement, and officials would not say why he was targeted.
According to police charging documents, a sergeant called 911 as part of the sting plan and reported a suspicious person standing in the first block of N. Clinton St., northeast of Patterson Park. The sergeant described the suspect as a white male wearing a green coat and said he appeared to be waiting to buy drugs.
An Internal Affairs detective, John Ferinde, was standing at that location dressed in similar clothes, the court documents state. At 6:02 p.m., police said, the dispatcher sent Hill to investigate the call. Five minutes later, Hill pulled up in a marked patrol vehicle. Another officer also arrived in a separate car as backup.
“Officer Hill, without provocation, then struck Detective Ferinde on his left lower jaw with a closed fist,” the charging documents state. The other officer then grabbed the suspect by his coat, pushed him against a wall and handcuffed him.
Two sergeants with Internal Affairs then arrived, disarmed Hill and transported him to police headquarters, the charging documents state. The other officer was not charged.
Hill posted his bail of $25,000 today and has been released, according to prosecutors.
Copyright 2008 The Baltimore Sun