By John Diggs and Raenard Weddington
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
A Baltimore County police officer shot an unarmed man during an incident in Essex Thursday morning after the officer believed that the man was reaching for a weapon, police said. (See update here.)
The man was taken to a local hospital, and police said he is expected to survive. They said the officer was not injured but has been placed on administrative leave while the incident is under investigation. Police said Officer Olszewski has not been involved in any previous shootings.
The Baltimore County Police Homicide Unit is investigating the shooting, which will be reviewed by the Baltimore County state’s attorney’s office when the investigation is done, police said.
The incident began on Old Eastern Avenue and Harrison Avenue in Essex at about 2 a.m. Thursday when the officer stopped the vehicle of Timothy Eric Dudeck, 29, which was suspected of being involved in narcotics activity, police said.
A male passenger got out of the car and started to walk towards Eastern Boulevard, but stopped, police said. The vehicle then drove onto Harrison Avenue and stopped parallel to the officer’s car, police said.
Police said the man who was the passenger in the car moved his hand towards his waist and turned toward the officer, causing the officer to think that the man was armed. The officer fired his weapon and hit the man at least once, police said.
Dudeck, who was the driver of the vehicle, was taken into custody while the vehicle was towed, police said. Police said they found Oxycodone pills, suspected cocaine, and more than $1,800 in cash on his person. Police also recovered a handgun, a scale, and more than $400 in cash after executing a search warrant on the suspect vehicle.
Investigators also found a surveillance video of the shooting from a nearby business and released it on Monday.