Brittney Verner | wmar2news.com
Jul 12, 2022
A family is pleading with the Baltimore City Police Department to suspend one of its officers who they said hit and killed their loved one with a police cruiser last month.
Attorney Binder said Officer Acosta was rushing to a call and failed to yield at an intersection which is against Baltimore City police policy.
Surveillance video presented by the family’s attorney Alex Binder shows the moments leading up to when Mr. Terry Harrell was hit.
Now, his family is asking for that officer to be held accountable.
“On June 21, 2022, the Harrell’s family’s life changed forever in the blink of an eye,” Binder said.
Attorney Binder said that’s the day 58-year-old Terry Harrell was hit on his scooter by Baltimore City Police Officer Alexis Acosta.
That incident was captured on video while onlookers watched.
“We also know that prior to the impact, Officer Acosta ran two previous red lights and a stop sign at a high-rate of speed without slowing down in a residential neighborhood,” Binder said.
Attorney Binder said Officer Acosta was rushing to a call and failed to yield at an intersection which is against Baltimore City police policy.
The video shows the impact from the collision when Mr. Harrell was flung from the scooter into the air before landing in the middle of East Biddle street.
Jerold Giddins, who lives on that corner, said he saw the entire incident and even tried to stop it.
“Hearing the sirens, I stood up when I glanced down, because normally cars would pull over, but I heard the scooter coming, so I’m looking at them and I’m flagging but he didn’t pay me no mind,” Giddins said.
Giddins said he quickly stepped out the way and watched that officer crash into Mr. Harrell.
“I mean he smacked him dead on. The pieces, the fragments, everything, it was everywhere,” Giddins said.
Now, Harrell’s wife, Verna, and their family is struggling to collect what’s left of their loved ones.
“This is what I have left. The officer has his career. This is what I have left. This is what me and his grandchildren look at, at night,” Verna Harrell said.
After 21 year of marriage, Verna Harrell said the pictures of her husband is all she has to comfort her and even that is just not enough.
“The last thing he said, and I wish we had done, was that he wanted more family pictures, and that’s what we don’t have and we don’t have him to get them,” she said.
The states attorney’s office released a statement this week saying the independent investigation division alongside Baltimore city’s CRASH team will continue to investigate the circumstances of this fatal crash.
Attorney Binder said according to the AG’s office, Officer Acosta is still working but the Harrell family wants the officer to be suspended while the investigation continues.
