(PIKESVILLE, MD) – A Maryland state trooper was recently found not guilty in Anne Arundel County on charges of assault and misconduct in office that had been filed when he was accused of assaulting a man he had arrested after the man tossed a lit cigarette on the trooper.
Trooper First Class Nathan Steelman was found not guilty of second degree assault and misconduct in office. The decision came during a hearing in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court on August 31, 2016.
The charges resulted from an investigation that began on December 10, 2014, when TFC Steelman was accused of assaulting a handcuffed suspect who was passively resisting and being verbally abusive, including making threats against the trooper and his family, while the trooper was escorting him in the Glen Burnie Barrack. The suspect did not require any medical treatment.
The suspect had been arrested for an assault that occurred earlier in the day when TFC Steelman said the suspect flicked a lit cigarette on him as he walked through a parking lot in plainclothes. Charges against that suspect had previously been dropped by the state’s attorney’s office.
The Maryland State Police investigation was reviewed by members of the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, who determined the charges that were filed against TFC Steelman. He was served with a criminal summons on April 21, 2015.
TFC Steelman has been a member of the Maryland State Police for six years. He is assigned as an investigator with the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center.
