A plainclothes police detective allegedly pulled his gun out and waved it at a large group of people in a snowball fight at the corner of 14th and U streets NW Saturday afternoon.
An off-duty member of the Metropolitan Police Dept. was reportedly driving his personal car in the area when the car was suddenly pelted with a barrage of snowballs, according to a statement from the MPD.
The detective stopped his car, got out and approached a crowd of people that might have thrown the snowballs. He then got into a verbal fight with members of the crowd, according to police.
At some point, the detective called for assistance. According to witnesses, one of the uniformed officers that responded pulled out his weapon as he approached the plainclothes detective. As soon as the detective identified himself, the uniformed officer put his gun back in the holster, police said.
In a video posted to YouTube, the police officer identifies himself as “Detective Baylor” and in response to someone saying that he pulled a gun on a snowball fight, he says:
“Yes, I did because I got hit with snowballs.”
MPD claims the footage does not show the detective drawing his weapon, but they have since received additional images and statements that would seem to support that allegation.
According to 3D Commander George Kusik, the uniformed officer conducted himself appropriately.
The incident between the detective and the snowball-throwing crowd is still under investigation by internal affairs and an officer has been placed on non-contact duty.
