34-year-veteran police sergeant Robert Mesner leans over to spit on cuffed Alfred Evan

34-year-veteran police sergeant Robert Mesner leans over to spit on cuffed Alfred Evan

"The video appears to depict the police sergeant spitting on the arrestee," interim police Commissioner Kevin Davis said in a statement. "That is outrageously unacceptable and it directly contradicts the necessary community relationships we are striving to rehabilitate." The video, shot at night, shows a man who appears to be under arrest, handcuffed and prone on the ground. A man in a police uniform standing over him leans down and appears to spit on the man. Bystanders in the video are heard shouting that the officer spit on the man.

"I think it's disgusting," Rawlings-Blake told news reporters at City Hall. "There are very few things that you can do to another human being that are that disgusting. We take it very seriously." The mayor said the case contributes to a poor relationship between the police and the community.

Evan, a 31-year-old Parkville man, was charged with second-degree assault of a law enforcement officer, second-degree assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, according to online court records. Evan, who had been held on $25,000 bail, was released on Wednesday, according to online court records. He was held in lieu of $25,000 bail. He could not be reached for comment, and no lawyer was listed for him in court records.

Baltimore interim police commissioner Kevin Davis has a lot on his plate after a video has come to light that appears to show Sgt. Robert Mesner leaning over 31-year-old Alfred Evan and spitting on him. Commissioner Davis was emphatic in his press conference, saying this was a "full blown investigation" and that he understood why people had a problem with the video. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has also called out the need for action against this officer. For his part in all of this, the victim Alfred Evan is being charged with assault: According to witnesses, thus far, police started a situation where they asked a bunch of people to leave a stoop in front of an apartment. Things escalated from there, ending with what we have now. For all we know Mr. Evans is a diabolical mastermind who said terrible things about Sgt. Mesner's mother—but all of that means nothing now. The police are here to help keep our society civil and lacking the ability to be civil themselves negate their purpose all together.

My son thinks spitting water into his cup at the dinner table is hilarious. Guess what? We tell him it isn't a good thing to do and we are slowly working on making sure he understands that dinnertime isn't the time for that kind of "play." He isn't doing it maliciously, he thinks it is one of the best jokes he's ever written. He's three and a half years old.

In the video embed below the fold, it is difficult to see but, around 1:37 into the footage you can clearly see Sgt. Mesner throwing away 34 years of any respect anybody watching the video may have had for the man.