Baltimore police Officer Salvatore Rivieri was fired Wednesday morning for a rant that worked its way to YouTube, where it has been seen in various iterations thousands of times.
Rivieri confronted some teen skateboarders at Inner Harbor in 2007. Apparently sensing some disrespect, he began shouting at the boys, one of whom was taping the incident.
The video shows Rivieri, in tones suited to a Marine Corps drill sergeant, ordering the boys not to get defensive. Next he grabs then-14-year-old Eric Bush in a headlock, pushes him to the ground and roundly scolds the boy for addressing him as “dude.”
Last month, a three-member police panel conducted a trial board and cleared Rivieri of the most serious administrative charges. The panel recommended several days of suspension.
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Apparently that wasn’t severe enough for Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Rivieri was fired Wednesday morning after meeting with the commissioner.
Guglielmi said the department will not comment further because it is a personnel matter.
Copyright The Associated Press
