BALTIMORE, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A Maryland police officer arrested in May for biting a man's testicles during a bar fight has separated from his department for undisclosed reasons.

Officials late last week confirmed Cpl. Michael Flaig, 31, left the Anne Arundel County Police Department on Sept. 23.


Flaig was arrested in May after police said he bit a man's testicles during an altercation on Cinco de Mayo at Looney's Pub in Canton, Md.

Police say the man was straddling Flaig, who was off-duty at the time, during a fight which reportedly began after the man accused Flaig of groping his female roommate.

Flaig was charged with second degree assault and an alcohol offense, but authorities decided not to prosecute him for the assault charge. He was convicted of public intoxication and endangering the safety of another person and is serving one year of probation.

Police did not say whether Flaig, a 10-year department veteran, separated because of the May 5 incident.

Flaig was one of four officers who shot Justin James Fisher in 2007 after the 18-year-old reportedly charged police with 9-inch scissors, The Baltimore Sun reports. No officers were charged in the case.

WBAL-TV quoted Flaig's attorney, Peter O'Neill of Glen Burnie-based Murnane & O'Neill, as saying Flaig's actions on May 5 may have been related to job stress.

"From his perspective, he was attempting to defend himself," O'Neil told The Baltimore Sun. "He admitted the behavior he engaged in did result in the disturbance of the peace, but that's all he conceded."