A Baltimore County police officer has been charged with second-degree assault after investigators say video footage from a city police helicopter showed him kicking a suspect on Liberty Road.
Officer First Class Christopher M. Spivey, 29, was served with a summons Monday morning in connection with the Jan. 25 incident, county police said. He is suspended with pay.
County police said they began an investigation after the Baltimore Police Department's internal affairs section reached out to them. City police said crew members of their department's Foxtrot helicopter had witnessed a possible assault by a county officer as they assisted with a vehicle pursuit.
According to county police, a 2003 Volvo was reported stolen at the Wegmans grocery store in Owings Mills that day. When police spotted the car and tried to stop it, the driver fled and then crashed near Liberty and Milford Mill roads.
Police say Diamontae Tyquan Farrar, 20, of Baltimore ran from the car. When officers caught him, police said, Spivey ran up to him and kicked him several times.
Michael Marshall, an attorney for Spivey, acknowledged the officer kicked the suspect. But, he added, "I think that the video is being misconstrued."
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"We've had our use-of-force expert review it and he believes the officer's actions were appropriate," Marshall said.
County police say the Foxtrot video will not be released because it is part of an ongoing investigation. They said there is no body camera footage of the incident.
A police spokeswoman would not say in which part of his body Farrar was kicked. She said no other officers are under investigation in connection with the incident.
Court records show Farrar is being held without bond in connection with the Jan. 25 incident. He faces counts including theft and a slew of traffic charges, and did not have an attorney listed in court records.
Spivey has been with the department about nine years and is assigned to the Woodlawn precinct, police said.
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