Reisterstown man dies after fight with Baltimore County Police officer causes brain damage

Samuel “Big Sam” Elsworth Brown Jr. died Friday after sustaining permanent brain damage during an encounter earlier last month with Baltimore County Police, his family’s attorney Billy Murphy confirmed.

The Maryland Office of the Attorney General is investigating the use-of-force incident from Monday, Feb. 16, when Baltimore County Police Officer Derek Hadel responded to check on the wellness of man sitting inside his car for a long time at a stoplight of a busy intersection in Woodlawn.

The attorney general’s office has not yet released the body camera video from the incident.

According to a partial copy of the police report — provided by Murphy — Brown hit Hadel in the arm twice and the officer responded by punching him twice in the face, causing Brown to fall and smack the back of his head on the ground.

“He became Mike Tyson,” Murphy said. “Instead of calming the situation down he acted like a street thug. He hit him with a right cross and a left hook and he hit him so hard it broke his nose, other bones in his face and fractured his skull in two places.”

The attorney said that Brown was drunk with a blood alcohol content level of 0.26 — three times the legal limit — but stressed that drunken belligerence should not have been a death sentence.

“He was a helpless drunk,” Murphy said. “How much of an opponent could he have been?”

Kelsey Hartman, spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, declined to comment beyond the initial press release the office published Feb. 17, which did not name the officer or Brown.

Baltimore County Police spokesperson Joy Lepola-Stewart said the department is cooperating with the attorney general’s office but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.

Hadel is currently assigned to administrative duties, Lepola-Stewart said.

It is unknown if Hadel has a history of misconduct. The Banner submitted a records request to the department for copies of all administrative and criminal misconduct, including complaints.

Doug Jess, president of the county’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4, asked the public to withhold judgment until the investigation by the attorney general’s office is concluded.

“We would just really hope all parties involved would let that process go through, prior to making judgments about what’s right or wrong,” he said.

Police report calls Brown ‘confrontational’

Records show Brown was asleep inside his SUV at 3:20 a.m. when Hadel approached his car and asked the Reisterstown resident if he was okay after noticing Brown’s bloodshot eyes and smelling alcohol on his breath.

Brown told Hadel that he was fine and didn’t need assistance. When Hadel told Brown he wasn’t okay, Brown got “confrontational,” according to the incident report.

While Brown at first refused Hadel’s request that he exit the vehicle, he eventually did and approached the officer, ignoring Hadel’s command to “Get back,” the report says. Hadel then extended his left arm to put space between them and Brown swung a closed fist, hitting Hadel’s arm. Brown, 56, yelled in the officer’s face and struck Hadel’s arm again.

The officer then punched Brown twice across each side of his face, after which “he fell to the ground where he subsequently struck the back of his head on the asphalt.”

According to the report, Hadel immediately cuffed Brown after he fell and called for a medic and backup.

Brown was then transported to Sinai Hospital.

Murphy said doctors confirmed that Brown was brain-dead after suffering from a fractured skull and that his family made the decision last week to take him off of life support.

Where’s the footage?

Brown’s family and friends held a news conference Friday in Woodlawn before his death, demanding that police, county and state officials release the body camera footage worn by Hadel.

Typically, the Independent Investigations Division releases body or dashboard camera footage within 20 business days after a deadly use-of-force incident, according to its protocols.

The family will have the opportunity to view the video before the public.

“I anticipate that the body camera footage will show Sam was belligerent to the officer,” Murphy said. “But [Sam’s death] did not have to happen. At the point where Sam batted Hadel’s hand away a second time, that’s when the officer made a fatal decision.”

Dakarai Turner, spokesperson for Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier, emphasized that the county is cooperating with the AG investigation, but did not elaborate further.

“We understand the importance of transparency in this process, and anticipate the Office of the Attorney General releasing the body-worn camera footage in the near future,” Turner wrote in an email.

Family and friends can pay their respects to Brown during a public visitation from 10 a.m to noon Tuesday at the Wylie Funeral Home in Baltimore. Funeral services at the Masjid Ul Haqq mosque will follow immediately afterward at 1:15 p.m.

This story may be updated.