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Cpl. K. Schnell and Cpl. E. Vasquez were issued criminal summonses on Friday, Dec. 6 following an investigation led by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, according to Anne Arundel County Chief of Police Amal E. Awad.
The indictments stem from a crash that occurred on Dec. 7, 2023, but details about the alleged misconduct have not been disclosed.
Damione Gardner, 22, of Baltimore, was killed when a Infiniti G37 driven by Meziah Johnson smashed into a pole at the intersection of Fort Smallwood Road at the intersection of Bay Harbor Road in Pasadena.
According to the Independent Investigations Division (IID) of the Office of the Attorney General, the vehicle was traveling on the Stoney Creek Drawbridge while two patrol vehicles from the Anne Arundel County Police Department were following seconds behind the sedan, all three vehicles at high rates of speed without their emergency lights activated.
Shortly after exiting the bridge, the sedan hit a utility pole at the the intersection around 12:05 a.m. last year.
Chief Awad emphasized that the department’s executive command staff reviewed all available evidence and found no conduct by the officers that violated criminal law.
“We respect the judicial process,” Awad said. “However, it is important to remind our community that an indictment is merely an accusation and not a finding of guilt, and our officers are presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
This is a developing story.
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