The Annapolis Police Department responded to the Harbor House community in Eastport on Sunday for a reported fight. A caller reported that a man involved had left the scene to retrieve a gun.
When officers arrived, they attempted to break up a fight between two women in an apartment complex and the fight spilled out to the nearby lawn. As the police were trying to affect an arrest, the nearby crowd swelled and converged on the arrest.
See video posted by the Arundel Patriot:
Mayor Buckley issued a statement saying that he was very “concerned” about the video.
It has come to my attention that there was an altercation on Sunday (April 14) at Harbor House in the Eastport community of Annapolis. My office has seen the video on Twitter. As mayor, I am very concerned.
His statement carefully worded, did not reflect if he felt the officers responded responsibly or not. In the comments on the Arundel Patriot’s Facebook page, the majority seemed to feel that the police acted responsibly.
According to the police department, officers did deploy pepper spray to disperse the crowd and also pulled a taser on the group and “arced” it which has a tendency to calm things down when people hear the electricity crackling.
In the end, two adult women were arrested (and released) and a 17-year old from Baltimore was charged with a citation.
Mayor Buckley fired former Chief Scott Baker days after lauding his work in reducing crime. At the time of the firing, Buckley said that the he and the community had lost confidence in the Chief and his community policing initiatives. The City is currently undertaking a search for a new police chief. After a series of public meetings, a panel will come up with several selections for the Mayor to present to the Council.
In addition to the police Chief, Mayor Buckley is looking to fill the spot of City Attorney as well as the Director of Planning and Zoning who just left to work for Baltimore County.
