Body Camera Video Shows Events That Led To Sergeant's Arrest

A still from Sgt. Ethan Newberg's body-worn camera shows a second officer tackling the victim. Credit: Baltimore Police Department

Baltimore police Friday released body-worn camera from the encounter that led to a sergeant's arrest last week.

Sgt. Ethan Newberg was arrested after a video of him assaulting a critic went viral.

Video from the body-worn camera shows the man walking by Newberg as the officer conducted a warrant check. The man appears to say something about harassment and Newberg placing his suspect on a wet sidewalk. Newberg is heard taking exception to the man's remarks.

The video shows him then running up to the man and grabbing him. After breaking away, a second officer, Alex Young, is seen wrapping his arms around the man and pulling him to the ground, where he and Newberg apply handcuffs.

"I didn't do nothing to you. I've got the freedom of speech," the man protests.

He asks what he was under arrest for.

"Just go to jail and take your charge like a man," Newberg says.

The man later asks what he was going to jail for.

"You don't know how to act," Newberg says.

Other officers arrived and try to calm Newberg, who reacts with hostility.

Newberg and Young then took the man to Saint Agnes Hospital, where they claimed they recovered a bag of suspected cocaine from the man, according to charging documents.

In his May 30 police report, Newberg claimed they were on routine patrol on Ashton Street in southwest Baltimore. They were checking on a possible warrant for a man, when another man began challenging them, which "caused a crowd to start to form creating a hostile environment for officers. The man was advised to stay away, and he continued to interfere." The video appears to refute that.

The man was ultimately charged with disorderly conduct and taken to Central Booking. Prosecutors declined to move forward on the charge.

Commissioner Michael Harrison said Newberg was "doing the wrong thing" and "tarnishing the badge."

Newberg case: later Newberg said to colleagues he told the officer who told him to relax “take your handholding nonsense some where else. This is police work. This ain’t no candlelight vigil. — David Collins (@dcollinsWBAL) June 14, 2019

Newberg has no history of complaints on his record. He is suspended without pay and charged with assault, false imprisonment and misconduct. Young, whose body-worn camera video was also made public Friday, was suspended with pay.

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Phil Yacuboski and WBAL-TV 11's David Collins contributed to this report.