A Baltimore County Police corporal who repeatedly pepper-sprayed a handcuffed and shackled man seat-belted into the back of a patrol vehicle and later held him by the hair testified Friday that he acted to gain compliance and carry out legitimate law enforcement objectives.
Cpl. Zachary Small said at his trial in Baltimore Circuit Court that he neither harbored any hatred toward Justin Russell on Sept. 27, 2023, nor intended to hurt him when he used force. He’s charged with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, misconduct in office and violating Maryland’s Use of Force Statute.
“Did Mr. Russell have any injuries as a result of this incident?” asked Patrick Seidel, one of Small’s attorneys.
“None that I saw,” Small replied.
Police had previously arrested Russell in multiple armed robberies and taken him to Johns Hopkins Hospital for medical treatment. He escaped.
Small, a 20-year veteran, testified that he was working the evening shift — 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. — and received a briefing about the arrest. He later heard over his radio that the prisoner had escaped.
He said he started to drive to Baltimore to “assist in the recapture of a dangerous felon.”
Next, Small, 52, walked almost frame by frame through what was captured on body camera video. He reiterated over and over that his job was to take Russell to the Woodlawn Precinct for booking and processing.
Small helped put Russell into the back of a patrol vehicle. But he refused to move his right knee, so the door would not close.
That’s when Small pushed Russell’s knee inside the SUV and slammed the door shut. Russell then started banging inside the patrol vehicle, complaining that he could not breathe and saying that all the windows were rolled up. Small testified that it was not hot inside the SUV, adding that the air conditioning had been running.
Small warned Russell, pepper-sprayed him several times and closed the door.
Pepper spray, Small said he learned through his training, is considered a less-than-lethal weapon that’s not likely to cause serious physical injury or death.
Small said he understood that he was authorized to use pepper spray in several situations, including when people failed to comply with orders or acted physically aggressive or destructive.
At one point, Seidel showed him a slide of a PowerPoint from a training that provided different scenarios called “Spray or No Spray.” It parodied the game show “Deal or No Deal.”
“For a combative subject, deploy O.C. spray in an up-and-down motion,” the training instructed.
Russell kept thrashing around inside the patrol vehicle.
So Small ran back to the SUV, pulled Russell out and grabbed his hair. Small testified that he acted to prevent damage to the patrol vehicle and place Russell in a position to recover.
In his training, Small testified, he was taught to grab whatever is closest and available. Russell, he asserted, was pulling away and dropping to the ground.
“You asked for it!” Small later said on body camera video. “I warned you!”
Under cross-examination from Assistant State’s Attorney Kimberly Rothwell, Small said he believed that his actions comported with a pledge that he signed about respecting the sanctity of life.
Circuit Judge Paul E. Alpert asked, “Why did you continue to pull his hair?”
“He was still tensing his body and pulling his head away,” Small responded.
He said he let go when Russell relaxed.
Small elected for a bench trial, which means that the judge will determine whether he is guilty or not guilty.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Tuesday.
Three other officers, Justin Graham-Moore, Jacob Roos and Thomas Desmond, are charged with misconduct in office under the theory that they failed to intervene.
