CARROLL COUNTY POLICE CHARGE BALTO. DEPUTY AFTER ‘ROAD RAGE’ INCIDENT NEAR HAMPSTEAD
— I.V. Staff report
Cyclist admits flipping off officer — two times;
says deputy illegally passed him on Md. Rte. 30
DEPUTY CHARGED WITH ASSAULT; CYCLIST NOT
A Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office deputy has been charged with assault after allegedly pointing his gun at a motorcyclist who made an obscene gesture toward him on Maryland Rte. 30 in Carroll County, the Carroll County Times reported this weekend.
The motorcylist told police the deputy pointed his gun at him after the cyclist had flipped the deputy off — twice.
According to online court records, the deputy, Michael Savage, 38, of the 7900 block of Galloping Circle in Baltimore, is charged with two counts each of first-degree assault, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment, and was released on his own recognizance.
The “road rage” incident occurred just after 5 p.m. Thursday, south of Maryland Rte. 91.
As reported by the Times, the motorcyclist — who was not identified — told investigators he made “an obscene gesture” when Savage’s van “illegally passed him” on the highway and then repeated the gesture as they approached a traffic circle.
Whereupon the deputy “pointed a black handgun at him and made a motion as if the gun had been fired, according to court documents.”
Hampstead (Carroll County) police officers subsequently stopped the van and identified the driver as Savage, according to the Times.
“Savage was wearing his Baltimore Sheriff's Office uniform and carrying a .40-caliber Glock handgun with one round in the chamber and 14 in the magazine, according to court documents,” the Times reported.
“The gun was determined by investigators to be the one Savage had been issued as a sheriff's deputy.
“Savage told police the motorcycle had been driving below the posted speed limit and the driver had motioned him to go around. He denied pointing his weapon at the man.”
Reached by Times Staff Writer Ryan Marshall by telephone Friday, Savage “declined to comment,” Marshall said.
Savage's wife, who was in the van but had not been paying attention, she said, told police she did not see her husband point the gun.