UPI
BALTIMORE — Baltimore police ended a collaboration with the city’s Fox affiliate after a suspect apologized on camera at WBFF-TV and the station did not notify police.
Aaron Parsons, 20, has since been arrested and is being held on $500,000 bail, The Baltimore Sun reported. The charges include a videotaped assault on a tourist who was beaten, stripped and robbed on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
Parsons’ lawyer said he wanted to give his client a chance to make his version of events public before he surrendered. He apologized April 13 at WBFF for hitting the victim but said he was not involved in humiliating him.
Police said they only learned Parsons had been at the station after he left.
The department and WBBF had collaborated for five years on “Fugitive Files,” a news segment featuring locally wanted people, and a spinoff, “Wheel of Justice,” in which targets were selected by spinning a wheel. Police ended the relationship.
“This case raises significant ethical concerns and trust issues,” the department said in an April 14 e-mail.
Copyright 2012 U.P.I.