A Maryland State Police trooper charged with beating up a man who had flicked a cigarette at him was acquitted of all charges in Anne Arundel Circuit Court, state police said Tuesday.
The acquittal comes six months after Trooper First Class Nathan Steelman, 30, was convicted of the same charges in District Court. Steelman appealed the conviction to the circuit court, where Judge Paul F. Harris Jr. found him not guilty after a trial, court records show.
Defense attorney Clarke Ahlers said in an interview that he argued at trial that Steelman usd "minimum force" to take back into custody a suspect who was "exceptionally hostile" and had broken free of his grasp. "It was a just verdict," Ahlers said.
The charges stemmed from an incident in December 2014. In announcing the charges last year police said Steelman was off-duty and in regular clothes when he walked by a car in a convenience store parking lot and a man allegedly flicked a cigarette at him. An argument ensued, and the driver fled.
Police said Steelman took note of the driver's tag number, and after consulting with a supervisor was able to identify the driver and applied for charges from a court commissioner. Steelman went to the man's house in Glen Burnie and arrested him on charges of second-degree assault.
The man was "disorderly and uncooperative," police said, and Steelman told investigators that the man threatened him and his family.
Inside the Glen Burnie Barrack, Steelman pushed the handcuffed man into a restroom door and struck him multiple times in the body with a closed fist, police said. At least one other trooper witnessed the incident and reported it. Maryland State Police conducted an investigation and referred it to the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney, which determined the charges.
In District Court, online records show, Steelman pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree assault and misconduct in office, but was convicted and sentenced to a six-month jail term that was suspended. District Court convictions can be appealed to the Circuit Court.
When the case was appealed, Ahlers said he received new exculpatory information from the special prosecutor assigned to the case.
Greg Shipley, a state police spokesman, said Steelman remains suspended with pay pending an internal investigation. In Maryland, internal investigations of police are put on hold until the disposition of any criminal charges.
Steelman served in Iraq with the Army for 15 months, and in 2013 was featured on CNN for coming to the aid of a man who was punched at an Orioles game and struck his head on the concrete.