Officers Kevin Dugan, Kevin Hilton, Mordechai Mandelbaum, and Menachem Rosenbloom were indicted on misdemeanor charges
Baltimore, Md. (March 30, 2026) – Today, the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City announced the indictments of four Baltimore Police Officers on charges including Second-Degree Assault, False Statement, False Report, and Misconduct in Office. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at trial.
“These indictments are the result of months of careful and thorough investigation conducted by my Public Trust & Police Integrity Unit in conjunction with the Baltimore Police Department’s Public Integrity Bureau. I want to specifically acknowledge the unwavering level of cooperation demonstrated by the detectives in BPD’s Public Integrity Bureau, whose partnership with our prosecutors is essential to ensuring these matters are investigated fully and fairly,” said Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates. “Allegations of excessive use of force by police officers strike at the very foundation of public trust. When that trust is eroded, so too is public safety. Our office remains committed to holding all individuals accountable under the law and to preserving the integrity of our justice system.”
The State’s Attorney’s Public Trust & Police Integrity Unit will prosecute the following cases:
Officer Kevin Dugan is charged with five counts of Misconduct in Office. There is no maximum penalty for Misconduct.
Officer Kevin Hilton is charged with Second-Degree Assault and Misconduct in Office. Second-Degree Assault carries a penalty of up to 10 years and/or a fine of $2,500.
Officer Mordechai Mandelbaum is charged with False Report, False Statement, and two counts of Misconduct in Office. Officer Menachem Rosenbloom is charged with Second-Degree Assault, False Report, False Statement, and four counts of Misconduct in Office, all arising from the same incident as Officer Mandelbaum’s charges. False Report carries a penalty of up to six months and/or a $500 fine; False Statement carries a penalty of up to six months and/or a $500 fine; Second-Degree Assault carries a penalty of up to 10 years and/or a fine of $2,500.
“Nobody is above the law — especially those who are sworn to uphold it,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “I am deeply concerned by the alleged actions of these officers. We remain committed to accountability, and we will continue to closely monitor their trial to ensure that justice is served.”
“We are aware of the criminal charges filed against members of our department,” said Police Commissioner Richard Worley. “I take allegations of police misconduct extremely seriously, as the integrity of our profession depends on it.”
Dugan Case:
The indictment alleges that Officer Kevin Dugan allegedly assaulted a juvenile and an adult male without legal justification and with corrupt intent on June 8, 2024, at the intersection of Fleet and S. Broadway streets and later made false statements in his Incident Report about these encounters. Officer Dugan was working in his capacity as a Baltimore City Police Officer, conducting crowd control in the Fells Point area, when he left his patrol car unattended near a crowd and walked away with a fellow officer. He then received an alert from dispatch that some people from the group were taking pictures on and around his police car. Officer Dugan then pulled out his wooden espantoon and returned to the patrol car. Once there, he questioned the crowd, asking who was “messing with” the police car, receiving a negative response.
Shortly thereafter, Officer Dugan witnessed a young woman hit a young man in the back of the head before walking away. Officer Dugan walked towards the young woman with his espantoon in his right hand. A male juvenile saw Officer Dugan approaching and put his arms out to protect her. Instead of walking around the juvenile, Officer Dugan grabbed them and used a “leg sweep” technique, causing the juvenile to fall backward onto the concrete. While the juvenile was held on the ground, Officer Dugan was on top of him and used his espantoon against the juvenile’s throat, put his knee on the juvenile’s stomach and arms, and stepped on the juvenile’s arm before attempting to turn him onto his stomach to be handcuffed.
While the juvenile was on his stomach, Officer Dugan used his espantoon on the back of the juvenile’s neck. The juvenile was handcuffed, placed in a patrol car, and charged with obstruction. The juvenile did not physically resist at any point in the altercation.
Officer Dugan then authored an incident report in support of the juvenile’s arrest, stating in pertinent part, “The male moved in between me and the female I was attempting to arrest and grabbed my vest in an attempt to stop me. At which time I then used a take down on him and held him on the ground. At which time a crowd formed around us and would not obey police commands.” The juvenile did not make physical contact with Officer Dugan, nor did he attempt to do so. Officer Dugan made this false statement in a public record.
Approximately five minutes after the juvenile’s arrest, Officer Dugan, while walking in the area, observed a man in a white t-shirt walking with both hands up, palms out. Officer Dugan yelled, “Leave” at the man and sprayed him in the face with Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Spray without legal justification. After spraying the man with the OC Spray, Officer Dugan continued on his path, failing to render medical aid to the man whom he had just sprayed in contradiction to BPD policy 1115 and Public Safety Article 3-524. Officer Dugan then failed to report this Level 2, Use of Force in a Use of Force report as required by BPD policy 725 for the force used on June 8, 2024.
On a separate date, October 13, 2024, BPD officers received a call from a homicide detective asking them to conduct a felony traffic stop on a vehicle that the detective stated a homicide suspect had been in a week before. The detective did not initially provide a description, gender, or name of the suspect they sought, but advised that, although he was unsure whether the suspect was inside the vehicle, there was probable cause to stop the car. The assigned lieutenant convened his team, which included Officer Dugan, and conducted the car stop.
The car contained three occupants: a female driver, a female passenger, and a male passenger in the back seat. The occupants were ordered out of the car and onto the curb and were handcuffed with their hands behind their backs. The male passenger was sitting on the curb talking when Officer Dugan abruptly and aggressively approached the man, grabbed his handcuffs, and pulled his arms up behind him, causing pain. The man told Officer Dugan that he was hurting him and that he had previously been shot in the hand. Officer Dugan told the man that he had been reaching for his pockets, which the man denied.
A lieutenant approached the man, whose arms were still extended, causing him pain, and asked his name and if he had identification. The man gave his name and said he did have his I.D. The lieutenant then went through all of the man’s pockets, found his identification, and confirmed the man’s identity. Officer Dugan continued to suspend the man’s arms in the air with his handcuffs while the man continued to complain of pain.
The lieutenant returned to his patrol vehicle, contacted the homicide detective, and confirmed that the male passenger was not the suspect sought and that he had no outstanding warrants. Shortly thereafter, the lieutenant went over to Officer Dugan, who was still holding the man by his handcuffs, and advised him that they would “try and release” him in a little while, indicating that he would not be arrested.
The man remained handcuffed and continued to talk while he waited to be released. On two more occasions, Officer Dugan grabbed the man’s handcuffs and pulled his hands up behind him, causing him pain, and used his own arm to place more pressure on the man’s arms. Officer Dugan then searched the man a second time with negative results. During this time, Officer Dugan repeatedly told the man to stop reaching into his pockets, which the man denied.
While Officer Dugan stood behind the man, the man began making jokes at Officer Dugan’s expense, drawing laughter from onlookers. In response, Officer Dugan suddenly grabbed the man by the back of his neck, lifted his left arm, and forced his head into the inside door frame of the vehicle. While in the door frame, Officer Dugan yelled at the man, stating, “I told you ten times now if you do it again, there’s gonna be even more severe consequences! Do you understand?!” The man advised that he understood. Officer Dugan then pulled the man out of the car and threw him back onto the curb, face-first, causing the man’s face to scrape the ground. While the man was on the ground, Officer Dugan continued to put his knee on the man’s back and pulled the man’s arms by using the handcuffs, often extending his arms upward. Ultimately, the male passenger was released from custody without charges.
Hilton Case:
The indictment alleges that Officer Kevin Hilton allegedly assaulted an adult male on March 30, 2,025 at the 1500 Block of Pennsylvania Avenue and Bloom Street. Officer Hilton responded as backup to the scene of a fight between multiple people. While another officer was attempting to separate the parties, a man reached under Officer Hilton’s arm. Officer Hilton then ordered the man to stop and pushed him to the ground, causing him to fall onto his back. While the man was on the ground on his back, Officer Hilton walked over to him and used both hands to grab the man by his jacket while yelling “What you doing?!” three times while holding the man up by his jacket. The man advised Officer Hilton that he was trying to break up the fight. Officer Hilton lifted the man from the ground by his jacket, turned him around, walked him backward, and shoved him, causing the man to fall onto his back and down approximately three stone steps as Officer Hilton stated, “Get your ass up and get out of here!”
Mandelbaum and Rosenbloom Cases:
The indictment alleges that Officer Menachem Mandelbaum allegedly made false statements to Officer Menachem Rosenbloom on June 26, 2025, at the 700 block of E. Chase Street with the intent to deceive. Officer Rosenbloom is alleged to have assaulted a man on this date at this location.
Police Officers Rosenbloom and Mandelbaum responded to a call in the 700 block of E. Chase Street. At the conclusion of the call, the officers noticed a man had left his apartment, leaving his two young children unattended. The officers initiated a vehicle pursuit of the man, who traveled on foot in and around I-83. Officer Rosenbloom was driving the departmental vehicle, with Officer Mandelbaum in the front passenger seat. The officers located the man, and Officer Mandelbaum exited the vehicle and initiated a foot pursuit. Officer Mandelbaum ran a few steps towards the man before losing his balance and falling forward onto the sidewalk. Officer Mandelbaum re-entered the departmental vehicle that Officer Rosenbloom was still operating and falsely reported to Officer Rosenbloom that the man “tripped” him, causing him to fall, further stating that the man “kicked” his foot.
Officer Rosenbloom called out over the radio that the man was “going to be 10-30 for assault on police.” The two officers proceeded to laugh and joke about the fall being Officer Rosenbloom’s fault because Officer Rosenbloom, as they stated, should have offered to be the “jump out” guy.
The officers found the man again, this time Officer Rosenbloom exited the patrol car and initiated the foot pursuit. Eventually, the man stopped running, stood in a corner behind residential buildings, and raised both hands in surrender. Despite the man having both hands in the air and fully surrendering, Officer Rosenbloom deployed his OC spray directly into the man’s face without legal justification.
The man immediately got onto the ground in compliance. Despite this, Officer Rosenbloom then sprayed the man with his OC spray three additional times without legal justification. Police Officer William Miller arrived and pointed his service weapon at the man. Officer Miller later noted in his Use of Force Review Statement, “I pointed my service weapon at [the man] from behind and gave verbal commands…This was necessary because for my safety, [the man] may have had a weapon. The man had already assaulted another officer previously when trying to flee on foot on East Chase Street.”
After the man was in custody, Officer Mandelbaum approached Officer Rosenbloom and stated, “You made up for your bad tactics.” To which Officer Rosenbloom replied, “I maced him like four times.” Officer Mandelbaum then stated, “On camera, I appreciate you for avenging me.” Officer Rosenbloom stated, “It wasn’t about that because he, he tried, he tried to scale this,” referring to a 20-foot wall. Officer Rosenbloom went on to say, “He tried to scale the thing. Then he’s like, he’s too short to do it. So, he came back down.” The man did not attempt to scale the wall.
Police Sergeant Steven Langher arrived in response to the Use of Force by Officer Rosenbloom. Officer Mandelbaum falsely told Sgt. Langher that the man assaulted him as soon as he exited the patrol vehicle. Officer Mandelbaum repeated his false assertion that the man “kicked him” at least three separate times during this incident. Officer Mandelbaum also volunteered this false assertion to the Medic on scene.
Officer Rosenbloom later authored a Use of Force Statement, which falsely stated the following: “The subject fled on foot from officers. The subject had just attempted to climb over a 20-foot wall and escape police in an act that showed he did not care about his own physical safety. Officer Mandelbaum reported that he thought he had been kicked and tripped by the subject when the foot pursuit initiated.”
An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at trial.