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The Dripby Brew Editors4:31 pmOct 29, 20140

Officer caught on tape beating man charged with assault and perjury

Above: One of the images captured by a CitiWatch camera of the alleged attack by Officer Cosom last June.

A Baltimore police officer, whose filmed beating of a 32-year-old man at a North Avenue bus stop went viral last month, was charged today with second-degree assault, perjury and misconduct in office.

Vincent Cosom, Jr. was charged with attacking Kollin Truss at North and Greemount last June 15, punching the vicitm several times in the face while another officer restrained Truss against the bus shelter and a third officer looked on.

A surveillance camera operator flagged the footage the night it occurred, and prosecutors and internal affairs detectives were aware of it, but Cosom was not suspended until Truss’s attorney made the video public in September.

The video caused a public uproar in the wake of repeated allegations of excessive police force against citizens and the payment of millions of dollars in damages by the Board of Estimates to settle lawsuits alleging officer misconduct.

After Cosom arrested Truss in June, he swore out a statement that the man had assaulted him, which led to the perjury charge against the officer. The two other officers involved in the incident were not charged.

The investigation leading to today’s charges was conducted by the Baltimore Police Department and the State’s Attorney’s Office.

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