The Aberdeen Police Department released a video Wednesday afternoon that shows a man, whom they arrested April 2 on charges of public intoxication and failing to obey a lawful police order, standing up inside the police station, staggering and then falling down and hitting the back of his head on the floor.
Barry Lee Berkenkemper, 59, died at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore the next day. The cause of death has not been released by police or the Office of the State Medical Examiner.
The police department's video and its detailed description of the incident and its aftermath were posted on the department's Facebook page.
The department is still conducting an internal investigation, according to Chief Henry Trabert, who said the video was released in order to be "transparent."
"We're not trying to hide anything," Trabert said.
The chief said no other agencies are involved in the investigation and he expects it to be finished next week. He declined to comment further.
The 28-minute video, which does not have sound, starts out showing Berkenkemper sitting on a chair in the police station's booking area at 3:41 p.m. on April 2.
He had been arrested around 2:40 p.m., after he allegedly refused to get out of a taxi that was near Ice House Liquors in the 1000 block of Beards Hill Road, according to Wednesday's police statement.
With his hands cuffed behind his back, Berkenkemper remains seated for several minutes until the officer who arrested him – identified by Aberdeen Police as Officer Jason Neidig – tries to help him up to take him to a holding cell.
No one else is in the room.
After Berkenkemper struggles to get to his feet, Neidig is seen getting a key from a cabinet, returning and then helping Berkenkemper out of the chair and taking off the handcuffs.
After the cuffs are removed, Berkenkemper is shown getting to his feet at 3:45 p.m., but he is unsteady. As Neidig walks across the room with his back to him, Berkenkemper turns, staggers, stumbles and falls backward. The back of his head strikes the floor.
Neidig can be seen jumping back in surprise as Berkenkemper falls.
After falling, Berkenkemper appears conscious, as Neidig and another officer, who comes in about one minute after the fall, stand over him and talk to him. He holds a hand on his forehead.
Two emergency medical responders from the Aberdeen Fire Department arrive at 3:50 p.m. and begin treating Berkenkemper.
The second officer, whom APD did not identify, helps the paramedics put Berkenkemper on a backboard and secure him, as Neidig watches.
Berkenkemper is placed on a gurney and taken out of the police station at 3:56 p.m., according to the video.
He was taken by ambulance to the University of Maryland Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace and later transferred to Shock Trauma, according to the police statement.
Police learned after he went to the hospital that Berkenkemper had a "pre-existing medical condition that was re-aggravated by the fall," according to the statement.
Berkenkemper died around 4 p.m. on April 3 at Shock Trauma, according to police.
An initial investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner showed Berkenkemper had "opioids/cocaine" in his body and there was also evidence of prior head injuries and falls, according to police.
A final ruling from the medical examiner is pending the completion of pathology and toxicology reports.
Neidig remains on active duty while the internal investigation continues, according to the police statement.
When Aberdeen Police initially released information about Berkenkemper's arrest and subsequent death, they gave his address as the Welcome One Emergency Shelter, in Belcamp, operated by a Harford County nonprofit called Faith Communities and Civic Agencies United.
On Monday, the shelter's manager confirmed Berkenkemper had been a client, but declined to comment further or provide any information, citing the shelter's confidentiality policy.