Police Chief responded to residents' questions about officer shooting

BOWIE, Md. – In a meeting with the city’s police chief Sept. 25, some Bowie residents expressed concern about a shooting by an officer and students allegedly smoking marijuana on school grounds.

Bowie Police Chief Dwayne Preston hosted the “community matters” meeting at City Hall to share crime statistics and other public safety issues, including the investigation into the officer, who is now facing attempted murder charges.

As described in the intial press release, Sgt. Robert Warrington stopped to help a stranded motorist on Collington Road and John Hanson Highway Sept. 12 around 8 p.m. While approaching the vehicle, for reasons currently under investigation by the police department, he discharged his firearm. 

That information has since been updated now that a grand jury has indicted Warrington, officials announced at a press conference Oct. 24. Though no one was physically hurt, a passing car was struck, officials said.

When he spoke at the September community meeting, Preston had urged the gathering of about 30 residents to “trust the process” while the investigation of Warrington was underway.

Deren Blessman Bey, a 39-year-old Bowie resident, who attended the community meeting, told the chief that he had found a transcript and video of a city council meeting and no one at that meeting had raised the topic of the officer shooting.

“There needs to be some transparency when it comes to that. And so, you know, we just trying to get some answers. That’s it,” he told the police chief.

Responding to Blessman Bey’s questions about the incident, Chief Preston said, “Please don’t define this police department by one action… The way that this incident started… Sgt. Warrington stopped to serve. He stopped to help what he thought was a stranded motorist.

“Trust the process. Allow the investigation process to play out. The only thing I can ask from the community is for patience,” Preston said at the time. 

Warrington has since been suspended without pay as a result of the Sept. 12 shooting, Preston said in a statement this week. The chief released vehicle and body-worn camera footage to the public and the Prince George’s County Police Department assisted with the investigation of the incident, he said.

In the video, Warrington's vehicle approaches a stopped vehicle, he speaks briefly with a man on foot who is headed toward the stopped vehicle, then the officer fires his gun without warning at the man who was walking on Route 197 in Bowie. That man was not arrested, nor was he charged with a crime, officials said during a press conference Oct. 24.

Warrington was not in custody but will be summoned to be advised of his charges, Prince George's State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy said at the press conference in Bowie. Her office will continue to investigate the incident, she said.

BREAK-INS and MARIJUANA

After taking residents’ questions during the community meeting last month, Preston reported that car break-ins had risen since last year and reminded attendees that locked cars are the main inhibitor to break-ins.

He then encouraged everyone to call the police if they see something suspicious. “It is our job to … respond to your needs, so you can’t call us too much. So, if you see something that doesn’t look right in your community, it’s OK [to call]. If you turn out to be wrong, it’s OK. It’s our job to come figure that out.”

The chief also explained that officers are stationed at Bowie High School in addition to the school’s individual security. However, the topic shifted quickly to concerns about students who smoke marijuana. Some parents said their kids came home from Bowie High school saying other students were smoking on school grounds.

Chief Preston reminded attendees that unless an officer sees it happening, that is mostly an internal issue for the school to address based on their protocols. Thereafter, the conversation turned to laws about cannabis use.

Chief Preston clarified when it is and isn’t legal to smoke marijuana, saying: “The only legal place for you to smoke is inside of your residence. If you are in your backyard, it’s illegal. But … it’s decriminalized. It is not something you are going to get arrested for; it’s a citation.”

More information: 

• The final community matters meeting of the year was Oct. 23 at the M Lounge at Bowie Town Center.  
• See a monthly calendar of community meetings on the city of Bowie website.

Peter Riccio covers Bowie as part of the University of Maryland Local News Network.

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