Pepper Spray Incident: Body Cam Video Releases By Hagerstown Police

The Hagerstown Police Department released late Wednesday night two body-cam camera videos from officers who were on the scene after the accident involving a 15-year-old bicyclist striking a car on Sunday.

According to a news release from the City of Hagerstown, staff worked for several hours on Wednesday to process the video in an effort to protect the identity of the juvenile in accordance with Maryland law, as well as the subject whose vehicle was struck in the incident.

Body-worn cameras are constantly buffering a 30-second cycle. During the cycle, only video is captured. The video being released starts in the middle of a buffering cycle and has video only for several seconds before the audio begins, the release said.

The video begins with body-worn camera footage from the first officer on the scene. The recording stops when the camera was kicked by the juvenile, and no further footage was captured by that officer. The video resumes with body-worn camera footage from another officer who responded, the release said.

In addition to blocking the faces of the subjects, audio was redacted from two portions of the video. In one area, the subject whose car was hit references a relative, which could reveal his identity. In another portion, the officer provides the man’s license plate number to dispatchers, according to the release.

The Hagerstown Police Department will hold a press conference on Thursday. Time of the press conference is to be determined, the release said.

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