Prosecutors Drop Case Against Maryland RB Brown

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Prince George's County prosecutors are dropping charges against Maryland running back Wes Brown, weeks after he was accused of assaulting a police officer who was trying to question him about a shooting, a spokesman said Monday.

Prosecutors decided to dismiss the case after reviewing the evidence ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday, said John Erzen, a spokesman for the county state's attorney's office.

Brown was arrested near the campus in College Park this month after police said he assaulted an officer who was trying to question him about a non-fatal shooting in Baltimore. Police said at the time that Brown fled from the officer and used someone else's cell phone to secretly record his conversation with the officer.

But Erzen said the conversation was never actually recorded and that the phone wasn't stolen because Brown had given the owner collateral. He said prosecutors now believe Brown was resisting an unlawful arrest, as he was permitted to do, instead of illegally assaulting an officer.

"There's nowhere to go with this at this point. We don't believe after screening ... that any crimes were committed. We're not going with charges," Erzen said.

After the arrest, the university suspended Brown from school and said he was not allowed to participate in any football-related activities.  He was the Terrapins' second-leading rusher as a freshman last season, finishing with 382 yards on 90 carries and two rushing touchdowns.

Jason Shapiro, a lawyer for Brown, said he would work to get Brown back in school and on the football team. He said there was never any basis for his client to be arrested and that he had done nothing wrong.

"They were placing him under arrest before he allegedly ever assaulted the police, recorded the police or stole anyone's cell phone," Shapiro said. "So what were they placing him under arrest for?"

A Baltimore police spokesman, Detective Jeremy Silbert, said Monday that Brown remains a person of interest in a non-fatal shooting in that city last month. Shapiro said his client was not at all a suspect and had no involvement in that case.

"He never did anything in Baltimore that would result in charges being lodged against him," Shapiro said.

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