16 May 2015
A Baltimore City Police Officer will spend six months in prison after a violent arrest was caught on camera.
Vincent Cosom Jr. pled guilty to second-degree assault Friday and was handed a sentence of five years in prison with all but six months suspended.
Attorneys say their client, 32-year-old Kollin Truss was the victim of police brutality when he was beaten by an officer during an arrest on June 15. A city surveillance camera captured the confrontation.
The victim’s legal team says they are disappointed with the plea deal and are questioning why the state wouldn’t push for perjury charges.
According to charging documents, at about 1:15 a.m. on June 15th, Officer V. Cosom saw an intoxicated Truss loitering in front of a liquor store at the corner of Greenmount and North Ave and told him to leave. After they exchanged words, the officer says Truss disregarded his demands and went inside the store to make a purchase.
When he came out, a female friend tried to persuade him to leave and more words were exchanged.
The video shows him walking away when Officer Cosom approaches him, throwing several punches while another officer tries to restrain him. The woman seems to try to separate the two.
Police arrested Truss and charged him with assaulting an officer. But his attorneys say prosecutors later dropped the charges, after seeing the video.
According to the police documents, Officer Cosom said he saw Truss push his female friend three times. When he went to arrest him, Truss began fighting him and he admits they got into a “physical altercation due to me being in fear of my safety.”
Source: http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/city-officer-sentenced-to-6-months-in-prison-for-violent-arrest