Sait Serkan Gurbuz/Reuters
A former Baltimore Police sergeant, Keith Gladstone, was indicted Tuesday for allegedly planting a BB gun at a crime scene—and telling others to lie about the situation. According to the Justice Department and The Baltimore Sun, Gladstone was having dinner with another officer in March 2014, when he got a panicked call from Gun Trace Task Force Sgt. Wayne Jenkins—who allegedly told him that he “deliberately” ran over a suspect. Gladstone allegedly grabbed a BB gun from a police car, drove over to the scene with the officer, and planted the BB gun near the injured suspect. According to the indictment, Gladstone then told Jenkins the location of the gun and said he should have someone search that area. When BPD found the gun on the scene, the suspect was charged with “use or discharge of a gas or pellet gun.” Gladstone allegedly told the officer he was with to lie to federal officials and say they were helping Jenkins as “scene security.”
According to DOJ, Gladstone faces up to 35 years in prison for conspiracy to violate civil rights, conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, and witness tampering. CBS Baltimore reports Gladstone was released after an appearance in U.S. district court and is “under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services.” According to the Sun, Jenkins was indicted for being the “ringleader” of the “corrupt” Gun Trace Task Force, and is serving 25 years in prison for charges including “drug dealing and robbing citizens for years.”