More information about the FBI investigation that led to a raid several weeks ago at the Safe Streets outpost in Belair-Edison could emerge in January.
Baltimore Assistant State’s Attorney Ryan Kiger asked for a postponement in the case of David Caldwell, 37, of Southwest Baltimore, a site supervisor at Safe Streets who had been scheduled to stand trial on Wednesday in the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City on a charge of illegally possessing ammunition, because a search warrant remains under seal.
Law enforcement searched a home on Kermit Court near Annor Court in Mount Winans looking for Caldwell on Oct. 26 — the same day as the raid at the Safe Streets site in Belair-Edison — and reported recovering items including a handgun with nine rounds.
Kiger said he was informed that the search warrant is expected to be unsealed “at some point” in January.
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District Judge Kent J. Boles Jr. agreed to continue the trial until Jan. 3 but stated that he would not grant further postponements.
“We’re not going to drag this out,” Boles said.
Safe Streets is the city’s flagship anti-violence program and operates across 10 outposts in some of the most violent neighborhoods in Baltimore. Staff members are unarmed and work to mediate — or “interrupt” — conflicts.
The FBI previously reported that it raided 15 locations that day but the full extent of the investigation and how much it involves Safe Streets remains unclear.
John Cox, Caldwell’s attorney, said he did not fault the assistant state’s attorney but protested the postponement.
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Cox said his client’s right to due process should not be trampled on for three months.
“Your honor, this is ridiculous,” Cox said. “This should not be postponed. We would object.”
LifeBridge Health’s Center for Hope — which manages the Safe Streets outpost in Belair-Edison, and is part of the health care system that’s aimed at addressing violence as a public health issue — reported that Caldwell remains on unpaid leave per policy pending the adjudication of the criminal case. Meanwhile, two other employees returned on Oct. 31, performing administrative duties off site. One left a few weeks ago “for reasons unrelated to the current situation”
Operations remain suspended at the site.
Caldwell is free on $50,000 bond, according to court records.
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