3 Baltimore Police officers face theft, misconduct indictments

Collecting a paycheck without showing up for work. Clocking in early and clocking out late to inflate hours. Forging a doctor’s note at a nonexistent urgent care.

Those are some of the allegations against three Baltimore Police officers who are now under indictment.

Lt. Welai Grant, 42, and Sgt. Mark Rutkowski, 51, are charged in Baltimore Circuit Court with theft and misconduct in office.

Former Officer Harrison Brandon, 28, is charged with forgery, identity fraud, theft and misconduct in office.

“Public servants take an oath to serve our communities with integrity and accountability,” Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said in a statement. “When that trust is broken, it undermines the very foundation of public service.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said the accusations “undermine the safety of our residents and represent a misuse of their hard-earned tax dollars.”

“We take our responsibility to protect Baltimoreans seriously, and we are committed to holding anyone who puts them at risk accountable — especially those sworn to protect our communities," Scott said in a statement.

When reached on Tuesday, Grant said she had not been served and needed to speak with her attorney, Chaz Ball.

Rutkowski could not be reached for comment. It’s unclear if he has retained an attorney.

No contact information could be found for Brandon, and it’s also unclear if he’s retained an attorney.

The indictments allege:

Grant, who joined the force in 2008, was paid more than $6,000 for eight days in 2025 when she did not work.

Sergeants had to fill in as supervisors in her absence, which resulted in them being paid an extra $400.

The investigation started after a captain in the Southern District showed up to work on Oct. 18, 2025, and noticed Grant was absent. But she was on the schedule.

She told her sergeants she was on preapproved leave. But the captain later checked payroll records and discovered Grant entered time as if she had worked.

Meanwhile, Rutkowski would clock into work before he arrived and then clock out after he left the parking garage, taking in almost $1,300 in unearned pay.

Rutkowski, who started with the department in 2001, voluntarily came into work on days he had been scheduled to be off without approval.

He then used a support staff member’s computer to cancel his leave. The move boosted his pay by more than $4,000.

Rutkowski is accused of committing the crimes between October 2024 and February 2025. The discrepancies were discovered during a payroll audit.

Brandon, who joined the agency in 2019, submitted five medical slips between Aug. 31, 2024, and March 23, 2025, to excuse his absences and get paid for time that he missed at work.

Dr. Pascal Crosley purportedly signed them at Quality First Urgent Care.

But the actual name of the business was FirstCall Medical Center. And Crosley was not working on those days.

Brandon was paid for two of those five days.

Grant made about $157,800 in gross pay in fiscal year 2025, according to the city’s salary database. Rutkowski was paid almost $172,900.

In fiscal year 2024, Brandon received more than $55,800.

Lindsey Eldridge, a spokesperson for the Baltimore Police Department, said in an email Grant and Rutkowski are suspended without pay.

In a statement, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the investigations “send a clear message that this conduct will not be tolerated.”

Said Worley: “We will continue to hold officers accountable while preserving the trust placed in this Department.”

This story has been updated.