By Colin Campbell
The Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE, Md. — Two Baltimore correctional officers were charged Wednesday with looting a downtown convenience store during unrest last month over the death of Freddie Gray, officials said.
Tamika Cobb and Kendra Richard were caught on video taking merchandise from the 7-Eleven on the corner of W. Baltimore and Howard streets on April 25, the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said.
Tamika Cobb was charged with looting a downtown convenience store during unrest last month over the death of Freddie Gray, officials said.
Tamika Cobb was charged with looting a downtown convenience store during unrest last month over the death of Freddie Gray, officials said.
It was one of several stores that were damaged and looted in the city when protests turned violent over the death of Gray, 25, a week after he suffered a severe spinal injury in police custody.
The officers, who were both assigned to facilities downtown, were charged with theft and burglary and placed on unpaid leave, the department said.
In the video, posted to YouTube, Richard is seen coming out of the store holding Slim Jims, while Cobb has Tostitos chips, police said. Police identified Richard as the woman exiting the store wearing yellow tennis shoes, black Adidas jogging pants and a jean jacket. They said Cobb was the one in yellow shoes, blue pants and a black sweatshirt with a large white graphic on the front.
Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Stephen T. Moyer praised investigators for “immediately” following up on a tip that led to the officers’ arrest.
“We will not allow the vast majority of our employees who are honest and hardworking to be tainted by the actions of a few,” Moyer said in a statement.
Neither Cobb nor Richard had attorneys listed in court records. No one could be reached at an address listed for Cobb. A woman who answered the phone at an address listed for Richard said no one with that name lived there.
Both officers were processed at Central Booking, with bail set at $35,000.