Prosecutors on Monday agreed to suspend the case against a Baltimore County man accused of threatening Baltimore City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer.
Alex Crane was facing two counts of threatening a local official in Baltimore Circuit Court after detectives alleged he sent an email on April 27 to Schleifer that warned he’d be harmed, even on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.
In order to shelve the case, Crane, 43, agreed to not contact Schleifer, except through an attorney; write a letter acknowledging the harmful effect of the email; sell a commercial property; and refrain from conducting business in District 5, which covers neighborhoods in Northwest Baltimore.
The Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office was specially assigned to handle the prosecution.
Outside the courtroom, Schleifer expressed disappointment about the resolution and asserted that prosecutors were inadequately prepared and “more interested in just moving on from the case than actually trying it.”
Schleifer said assistant state’s attorneys did not talk to him about the threats and the effect they had on his life.
“I’ve honorably served my district for 10 years, and no public servant should be subjected to threats over doing what’s right for their constituents and for their district,” Schleifer said.
Crane, he said, sought to rezone a building on Park Heights Avenue so he could open a methadone clinic. Schleifer said the community opposed the move, which he felt was not in the best interest of his constituents.
Kurt Nachtman, Crane’s attorney, declined to comment.
A spokesperson for the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office, Yolanda Vazquez, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Schleifer, a Democrat, first took office in 2016. District 5 includes neighborhoods such as Fallstaff, Mount Washington and Pimlico.
This story will be updated.
Comments
Welcome to The Banner's subscriber-only commenting community. Please review our community guidelines.