Woman charged with assault for striking Baltimore officer's bike over traffic citation
A woman is facing charges for driving her vehicle toward a Baltimore police officer attempting to issue her a traffic citation and striking the officer's bike.
An indictment against Tamia Anderson was announced Thursday during a press conference attended by Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan J. Bates and Police Commissioner Richard Worley.
Anderson is being charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, fleeing and eluding, and related traffic offenses.
The charges stem from an incident on Aug. 13, when Baltimore Police Officer Lawrence Fasano observed Anderson's vehicle, a Tesla Model 3, illegally parked on the 1900 block of Thames Street, Bates said.
The indictment states that Fasano spoke with Anderson and advised her that she would be receiving a parking ticket for the infraction and to remain at the scene. Anderson then got into her vehicle, placed it in drive, and made a U-turn to face Fasano, according to the indictment. The officer then advised Anderson that she was not free to leave and asked her to stop her vehicle.
"The defendant disregarded this order and proceeded to strike the front wheel of Officer Fasano's patrol bike," said a State's Attorney statement announcing the charges. "The defendant then threw a glass bottle from her vehicle towards the officer, but did not strike him."
Officer captured incident on body cam
The officer then attempted to follow the vehicle to retrieve its license plate number. Anderson then stopped the vehicle and placed it in reverse.
"The defendant then accelerated the vehicle at speed in reverse toward Officer Fasano, striking his bike between the front and rear wheels and causing him to abandon it and retreat to safety," the statement said.
At the press conference, officials showed the officer's body-worn camera video that Worley said "provides important context about what occurred, and allows the public to see the incident from the officer's perspective."
"Officer Fasano was attempting to issue a parking citation when a routine encounter quickly escalated into a dangerous and life-threatening situation," Worley added. "Violence against our police officers will not be tolerated, and we are grateful to State's Attorney Bates and his team for their partnership and commitment to hold this individual accountable."
"Our officers risk their lives every day to keep our city safe and maintain order. Something as simple as issuing a parking ticket can still put them in harm's way," Bates said.
