An off-duty Hyattsville police officer has been indicted after allegedly engaging in an argument with a group of teenagers at a Columbia apartment complex and brandishing a gun, the Office of the State’s Attorney for Howard County announced Monday.
Pfc. Mitchell Joseph Lowery, 29, of Ellicott City, was indicted Sept. 2 by a Howard County grand jury on seven counts of first-degree assault and one count of use of a handgun during the commission of a crime of violence, according to a news release.
The release states Lowery engaged in an argument with a group of teenagers at the pool of an apartment complex in the 12000 block of Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia at around 6:30 p.m. July 13. Lowery, who was off-duty at the time of the incident, brandished a handgun at the teens, according to the release.
Howard County authorities notified the Hyattsville Police Department that they were investigating the alleged assault involving Lowery, the release states, and the Hyattsville department suspended him.
Lowery was arrested and released on his own recognizance Sept. 3, according to online court records.
An initial hearing for Lowery is scheduled in Howard County Circuit Court on Oct. 16, according to the state’s attorney’s office.