Thursday, March 24, 2011

Sentencing In Maryland

A District of Columbia man was sentenced to a prison term for Possession of Crack Cocaine and Assaulting a United States Park Police Officer. This incident happened on the Baltimore Washington Parkway.

Below is a press release from the United States Attorney's Office:



March 24, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or

www.justice.gov/usao/md MARCIA MURPHY at (410) 209-4885

WASHINGTON, D.C. MAN SENTENCED FOR
ASSAULTING A POLICE OFFICER AND POSSESSING CRACK COCAINE

Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Derrick Tarzan Young, age 25, of Washington, D.C., today to 21 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for assaulting a U.S. Park Police officer and possession of crack cocaine.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Chief Teresa Chambers of the United States Park Police.

According to Young’s guilty plea, on June 10, 2010, an officer of the United States Park Police stopped the vehicle being driven by Young because its brake light was broken. When the officer turned on the lights and siren on his marked police cruiser, Young drove for a substantial distance before coming to a stop.

After the traffic stop, the officer patted down Young and detected a hard object which he believed was drugs. As the officer was trying to handcuff Young, Young threw back his elbow toward the officer and began to run away along the side of the road. The officer pursued Young and grabbed his shirt. Young turned back towards the officer and wrapped his arms around the officer’s waist, near the officer’s gun. After a struggle, the officer finally forced Young to the ground. An off-duty police officer arrived on the scene to assist.

Once Young was in handcuffs, the Park Police officer pulled at Young’s pants. A package fell to the ground which contained 4.5 grams of crack cocaine. At the police station, police seized $280 from Young.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the U.S. Park Police for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant United States Attorney Hollis Raphael Weisman, who prosecuted the case.