The Baltimore County police officer that shot a shoplifting suspect July 3 in Rosedale, Maryland, will not be charged, according to the state’s attorney for Baltimore County. A Baltimore County grand jury declined to charge Officer First Class McCain after hearing the facts of the case and viewing body camera footage from the incident on Wednesday, according to a news release from Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger’s office. McCain, a 17-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department, shot Micah Tucker, 38, who was sitting in the passenger seat of what police said was a stolen SUV driven by 32-year-old Robyn Slack, of Cedmont.
It is at least the second time McCain has shot a shoplifting suspect. He fatally shot a man who was allegedly attempting to steal detergent from a Giant Food in Catonsville in 2017, and was also involved in a nonfatal shooting in 2006. He was suspended with pay at the time of the incident, police said. It was unclear if he had returned to work as of July 18. “As with any police-involved shooting, the police department will conduct an administrative review of all of the officers’ actions who were involved in this incident,” Cpl. Shawn Vinson, a spokesman for the police department, said. Tucker, a Belair-Edison resident, according to court records, was suspected of shoplifting from a Walgreens in Parkville early July 3.
His shooting followed a 15-minute police chase as officers followed the SUV from Harford and Joppa roads to the 7400 block of Pulaski Highway. During the pursuit, another police vehicle attempted to block the car, footage from McCain’s body camera showed. The SUV turned and crashed into McCain’s police cruiser. Later, McCain could be heard shouting at Slack and Tucker, “Stop the car! Stop the car!” before firing his gun at the car 11 times. It was unclear from the footage whether Slack headed toward McCain, as police said, or whether she was attempting to flee the scene. McCain was not hurt in the July 3 incident.
Shellenberger declined to say whether his office sought charges against McCain. “We decided to let the grand jury make the decision. So they heard the facts and we were leaving it up to them,” he said. “We thought it would be important for the public to know that an independent group of Baltimore County citizens made the decision.” Members of the media were allowed to watch the footage taken by McCain’s body camera during the incident earlier this month.
Although no charges were filed against McCain, Shellenberger said his office would not release McCain’s body camera footage to the public because cases are still open against Tucker and Slack, and it could prejudice juries. Tucker was charged with two counts of theft less than $100, and Slack was charged with second-degree assault and two counts of theft less than $100, court records show. Tucker was released, and Slack is being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center. [Source: The Baltimore Sun]