Surveillance video that led to assault charges for a Prince George’s County police officer appears to show a gun firing as an officer struck a man in February.
The footage from a Brentwood, Md., store appears to show Corp. Donald Taylor striking 19-year-old Ryan Dorm with his gun. A flash upon impact appears to be the gun firing.
Taylor lied about the incident, police said. The officer claimed Dorm, believed to be involved in an attempted robbery at a gas station, reached for the officer’s weapon.
Dorm spent about four months in jail before prosecutors dropped the charges against him.
"Well, the video contradicts what the officer originally wrote in his charging documents,” said Dorm’s lawyer, Jimmy Bell. “What it shows is that my client didn't lie. They print my client is a criminal. They put his face on television saying he committed these crimes, and he didn't."
Taylor was charged with second-degree assault last month.
Dorm and his lawyer filed a $10 million lawsuit against the police department and Taylor.
