2 Police Officers Cleared Of Kidnapping Charges
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Two police officers accused of kidnapping two 15-year-olds in a police van in 2009 have been cleared of those charges.
But a Baltimore jury on Monday found Detectives Tyrone Francis and Milton Smith III guilty of misconduct, a misdemeanor, in the incident.
The third officer charged in the case, Gregory Hellen, will have his fate decided by the judge overseeing the case.
Prosecutors had claimed the three were on a crime suppression detail in West Baltimore on May 4, 2009. In separate incidents, they allegedly picked two 15-year-olds and took them in a police van. They released one in East Baltimore and one in Howard County.
The case was the first tried by Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein since taking office in January.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
