Samuel Brown’s family condemns police officer’s ‘brute force’ in deadly confrontation

Heads bowed, clutching one another arm-in-arm, Samuel “Big Sam” Brown Jr.’s four daughters and two sons banded together to condemn the Baltimore County Police Department and demand Officer Derek Hadel be held accountable for their father’s death.

“It was wrong. It’s devastating to all of us,” daughter Deja Brown said during a press conference Thursday. “He was loving, he was caring. He was whatever we needed him to be, whenever we needed him to be it. And my family just prays that justice be served.”

Brown died last week after suffering permanent brain damage in an encounter with Hadel last month. Hadel approached Brown around 3:20 a.m. after someone called the police to report someone sitting in their car at a Woodlawn intersection for a long time.

Family attorney Billy Murphy said there was only one conclusion to draw from body-camera footage released Wednesday afternoon by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, which investigates deaths involving police.

“You can see that Officer Hadel, instead of de-escalating the situation as required by Baltimore County Police Department policy, chose to escalate the situation illegally by sucker punching Big Sam in his face,” he said.

The video, which does not include audio for the first minute while the body camera buffers, shows Hadel slam Brown’s car door shut before the 56-year-old gets out and approaches the officer.

Brown, who Murphy said recorded a 0.26 blood alcohol content, shouts something incomprehensible to Hadel, hits the officer’s arm, then swats at his arm again.

A split second later, Hadel shouts as he punches Brown twice in the face: “Get in your f---ing car, sir, get in your car!”

Brown falls backward, smacking his head against the pavement and bleeding profusely.

Baltimore County Police spokesperson Joy Lepola-Stewart said the department is fully cooperating with the attorney general’s office, but she said she could not comment further.

Doug Jess, president of the county’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4, told The Banner the public should reserve judgment until the attorney general’s Independent Investigations Division completes its investigation.

The investigation can take more than a year, and the attorney general’s office will determine whether to charge and prosecute Hadel.

Murphy said the family will wait before deciding on any legal action.

Expert says Hadel ‘didn’t follow his training’

Neill Franklin, a former Maryland State Police major and 33-year law enforcement veteran, reviewed the body-camera footage and said Hadel blatantly ignored his training.

“Start from the beginning when he slams [Brown’s] door,” Franklin said. “He starts the instigation, so he’s taking it to another level, he’s ratcheting it up.”

According to a copy of the department’s field manual, Baltimore County Police officers must use de-escalation techniques to reduce or eliminate the use of force.

“Force is not necessary unless there is no reasonable alternative to using force that, under the totality of the circumstance, would safely and effectively achieve the same legitimate ends,” the policy reads.

Franklin, who served as an expert witness in a recent civil trial between William Truant and Baltimore County Police Officer H.R. Persuhn, has been providing use-of-force and police training expertise since 2010.

“If you have time, when the situation allows for it, you de-escalate,” he said. “You slow it down, but again [Hadel] went from zero to 100 in punching this guy so hard that the guy fell back, lost his balance and struck his head on the pavement.”

Franklin, a former executive of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership nonprofit, emphasized Hadel’s temper, which he said is evident throughout the video.

“I guarantee this isn’t the first time this has happened,” Franklin said.

Hadel is currently assigned to administrative duties, Lepola-Stewart said. The nine-year veteran of the force was named in a domestic violence case in 2021, according to court records.

Those records show the case was dismissed two weeks after it was filed.

It is unknown whether 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.

No ‘accidental punch’

Murphy held the press conference in his downtown Baltimore office with Brown’s children and longtime friend and collaborator Roberto “DJ Quicksilva” Silva.

“And although we know that death is the one thing that’s guaranteed to all of us in life, never in a million years did we think it would be so tragic, unwanted and illegal,” Silva said.

Murphy emphasized he believes there was no justification for Hadel’s actions.

“It was not justifiable force. It was brute force and it was vicious. And it was intentional. This wasn’t an accidental punch,” he said. “This was deliberate.”

Brown’s daughter Deja recalled her dad — a West Baltimore native known as the “neighborhood philanthropist” whose prayer card read, “I’m On It” — as a proud father above all else.

“He was Big Sam to everybody else, but he was just Dad to us,” she said. “He wore a lot of hats, but he was proud to be a dad. He always talked about his children.”

A Towson University graduate with a degree in social work, Deja Brown choked back tears as she spoke in front of reporters.

“He always bragged on us,” she said. “He always wanted us to be with him.”

Brown’s daughter added that the family will continue to pray Hadel will be held responsible for their father’s absence.

This article has been updated to correct how the Maryland Attorney General’s Office charges and prosecutes officers involved in deadly use-of-force incidents.