Baltimore Police Sergeant Ethan Newberg, 49, already charged with forcibly arresting a man without justification has been accused of a pattern of similar abuse and has been indicted on 32 additional counts of false imprisonment, assault and misconduct in office
A year’s worth of body camera video footage has revealed a veteran city police sergeant already charged with forcibly arresting a man without justification engaged in a pattern of similar abuses.
Baltimore State´s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Thursday that Sergeant Ethan Newberg, 49, who was suspended for the footage of the violent May arrest, has now been indicted on 32 additional counts of false imprisonment, assault and misconduct in office.
Newberg, a 24-year-veteran on the force who was free on a $200,000 bond after the initial incident, surrendered to authorities Thursday afternoon and was held pending a Friday bail review hearing, his attorney, Joseph Murtha, said.
A Baltimore police spokesperson declined to comment on the indictment after DailyMail.com reached out.
Police initially charged the sergeant in June over the forcible arrest of 28-year-old bystander Lee Dotson, who protested when officers forced a man to sit on a wet pavement during a warrant check.
Dotson asks why cops forced the man to sit on the wet ground, prompting Newberg to violently chase him down, aided by another officer, and file resisting arrest charges.
It is unclear in the footage if Newberg and Dotson are speaking to each other after the arrest is made.
‘Take your charge like a man’, a cop is heard yelling, and a man is heard responding, ‘What am I being charged for’?
‘Because you don’t know how to act’.
When Newberg’s account of what happened didn’t match up with body camera footage, authorities decided to review nearly a year’s worth of video.
The indictment alleges the sergeant intentionally and unlawfully harassed, detained and assaulted citizens ‘engaged in lawful conduct for the improper purposes of dominating, intimidating and instilling fear’ at least nine separate times between July 2018 and May 2019.
Police initially charged the sergeant in June over the forcible arrest of 28-year-old bystander Lee Dotson (right)
Body camera footage shows an officer in the May incident getting Dotson to the ground during the violent arrest initiated by Newberg
Newberg (right) is pictured in police body camera footage after Dotson was detained for resisting arrest in May
Newberg was found to have intimidated citizens at least nine times, and in almost the same manner when they encountered him: he roughly questions and detains bystanders who are within proximity of police street scenes, such as traffic stops and arrests, according to the indictment, The Washington Post reports.
In January, a bystander complied when he was told to move away from police activity, but Newberg pursued him and shoved him against a wall, the indictment says.
‘You were told to walk away, it’s a safety issue. You don’t make the rules here, we do’, the sergeant says, according to the indictment.
Newberg is alleged to have gotten an apology from the bystander as well. ‘Hey, don’t play me,’ he tells the person, ‘don’t mess with me’.
The indictment also accuses him of ‘lording’ over Boston’s Western District.
Mosby says her office still is debating what to do with the arrests and convictions involving Newberg, who remains suspended with pay
In a February traffic stop, he is alleged to have told a man sitting on a stoop to leave after a nearby traffic stop, but still takes the man into custody.
‘I’m the sergeant they talk about, now you’ve met me. Sergeant Newberg. Now you know me,’ he says to the man. ‘Now we have an understanding, correct’?
Newberg repeatedly gave reasons for arrests or detentions, such as the incitement of a crowd, without any supporting evidence, according to the indictment.
Mosby says her office still is debating what to do with the arrests and convictions involving Newberg, who remains suspended with pay.
He was paid the highest of any city employee for the fiscal year that ended in June, with his salary totaling more than $260,000 when accounting for overtime.