The son of one of Baltimore's most notorious drug lords went on trial yesterday in a case featuring a made-for-television police chase that involved a stolen Department of Public Works van and an enterprising city worker who tried to save the vehicle.
Federal prosecutors say Anthony "Scooter" Grandison Jr. led police on a wild 15-minute car and foot chase through West Baltimore in August after a bounty hunter tried to collar him for skipping out on a $250,000 bail when he failed to appear in court on an attempted-murder charge.
What followed, U.S. authorities say, was a reckless, no-holds-barred getaway attempt by Grandison, 23, who has a history of run-ins with the law and whose father -- Anthony Grandison Sr. -- is on Maryland's death row for paying a hit man to kill two witnesses in his federal drug trial in the mid-1980s.
In the car chase, "Mr. Grandison had no regard for whatever happened," Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. "Jack" Purcell told a jury in opening statements yesterday. "His intent was to get out of there at any cost."
Grandison's attorney told jurors that his client was trying to escape capture the day of the chase but that his actions fell short of the federal carjacking charge he faces.
"Anthony Grandison didn't intend to cause anybody serious injury; his intent wasn't to cause a death that day," defense attorney Anthony D. Martin of Greenbelt said. "His intent simply was to get away."
Tony Hill, the bounty hunter who caught up with Grandison on Aug. 12, testified that he trailed Grandison to a relative's home in the 2400 block of W. Baltimore St. Before police could raid the house, though, Grandison walked out the front door, climbed into a Honda Accord and sped off, with police in close pursuit, Hill testified.
When Grandison hit a dead end on Kinsey Avenue, police said, he fled the car, arriving at a Department of Public Works yard on Franklintown Road.
There, Grandison encountered public works employees Jimmy Comegna and Thomas Green, who first refused to give up their city-issued Ford van, Purcell told jurors. Later, though, Comegna stepped out of the van and Grandison moved in -- taking over the wheel as Green wrestled for control of the van, the lower half of his body flying out of the vehicle, Purcell said.
Green fell off the van after it careened down a grassy slope, but he suffered only minor injuries, Purcell said. Grandison was stopped when the city van collided with a Ford pickup at Catherine and Lombard streets.
Grandison is also charged with illegally possessing six .38-caliber bullets that police said they found in his pants pocket. Grandison is prohibited from possessing ammunition because he is a convicted felon.
The attempted-murder charge in state court that touched off the chase is still pending.