Excerpt: "Baltimore lieutenant Brian Rice, who
has been charged with manslaughter over Gray’s death, was disciplined over
incidents and twice had guns confiscated."
(right), Mr. Rice is the officer who first gave chase to Mr. Gray. (photo: unknown)
Freddie Gray Officer Disciplined for Issuing Death
Threats
By
Jon Swaine and Oliver Laughland, Guardian UK
06 May 15
Baltimore lieutenant Brian
Rice, who has been charged with manslaughter over Gray’s death, was disciplined
over incidents and twice had guns confiscated
he Baltimore police lieutenant charged with the
manslaughter of Freddie Gray allegedly
threatened to kill himself and the husband of his ex-girlfriend, during
incidents that led to him being disciplined and twice having his guns
confiscated.
Brian Rice, who pursued and arrested Gray after the
25-year-old “caught his eye” on 12 April, was reportedly given an
administrative suspension after being hospitalised for a mental health
evaluation when he warned he was preparing to shoot himself in April 2012.
Rice, 41, also received an internal discipline when a
judge granted a temporary restraining order against him after a request from
Andrew McAleer, the husband of Karyn McAleer, who is the mother of Rice’s young
son and a fellow Baltimore police officer. Rice has been married to and
divorced from two further women, according to court records.
A sharply critical 10-page complaint against Rice,
which Andrew McAleer filed to a court in Maryland in January 2013, is being published in full for the
first time by the Guardian. It details what McAleer, a Baltimore
firefighter, described as a “pattern of intimidation and violence” by the
officer.
Rice was released on bail after being charged with manslaughter, assault,
misconduct and false imprisonment following an inquiry into Gray’s
death on 19 April. Prosecutors say Gray died after his neck was broken
during a prolonged van journey in handcuffs and shackles. All six officers involved in his
arrest have been bailed on criminal charges.
State’s attorney Marilyn Mosby said on Friday the arrest of Gray initiated by Rice
was illegal because a knife in his pocket, which he was charged with
illegally carrying, was in fact legal. Rice and two other officers put Gray in
the police van without seatbelting him as required by police rules, according
to Mosby.
An attorney for Rice did not respond to an email and
message requesting comment. The restraining order against him was lifted after
a week when a judge ruled there was no basis in Maryland law for it to
continue. The McAleers previously declined to comment when reached via
telephone by the Guardian.
McAleer said in his court filing, which was first reported by the Guardian last
month, that Rice forced one of Karyn McAleer’s young children to
“shoot” a photograph of her and her husband that Rice had “taped to a piece of
cardboard intended for target practice”. It was not clear from the filing
whether any weapon was actually used.
McAleer said that two months before this, in April
2012, his wife called to tell him to protect himself and her five children from
Rice because the lieutenant had called her threatening to kill himself.
Deputies from the Carroll County sheriff’s department
responded to an emergency call and transported Rice to a hospital, before
confiscating his police service weapon, his personal 9mm handgun, two rifles
and two shotguns.
It is unclear how long Rice spent as a patient. The
police response to an incident at Rice’s home was first reported earlier this
month by the Associated Press, which said it resulted in an administrative
suspension from Baltimore police.
Asked to confirm details of Rice’s suspensions, a
Baltimore police spokesman said: “I can confirm that individual has been
employed with Baltimore police department since 1997. He is currently
suspended. I am not able to provide you with any other information on personnel
issues.”
Rice was allegedly given another administrative
suspension and had his guns confiscated again eight months later, according to
court filings, after McAleer obtained the week-long peace order against the
police lieutenant.
“I am seeking protection immediately,” McAleer wrote
to a court in Carroll County, Maryland, in January 2013. He alleged Rice’s
behaviour had caused him “to have constant fear for my personal safety” and a
“fear of imminent harm or death from Brian Rice”.
Rice was ordered to stay away from McAleer, his home
and his workplace after a series of alleged confrontations, including one armed
standoff in June 2012 when officers from two police departments responded to a
911 call and spent 90 minutes defusing the situation.
McAleer alleged Rice was screaming and smelled of
alcohol during the 2am confrontation in front of McAleer’s house. He said his
wife later said Rice had told her he planned to kill McAleer during the June
2012 encounter.
“I witnessed Brian Rice remove a black semi-automatic
handgun from the trunk of his vehicle,” wrote McAleer, who said officers from
Carroll County sheriff’s department and Westminster police department arrived
after he called 911.
Among other alleged incidents detailed in his
complaint, McAleer said Rice bombarded him with “harassing and sexually
explicit text messages” sent on his police department-issued BlackBerry.
McAleer said he finally applied for a restraining
order in January 2013 because five days earlier, Rice had arrived again at the
man’s house in his Hyundai Sonata, before exiting and slamming his car door,
yelling and waving his arms.
Rice finally returned to the driver’s seat, “racing
the engine” while inching the car towards the man and flashing the headlights,
according to McAleer. “This caused me to become distraught and fear my life was
about to end,” he wrote.
© 2015 Reader Supported News
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to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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