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Suspended Detective Accused Of Misusing Badge To Find Runaway Daughter

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The investigation is growing after a Baltimore police detective is accused of misusing his badge to find his runaway daughter. That detective is now suspended from the force.

Meghan McCorkell has the new details in this case.

Police are trying to determine if other officers were involved in an unauthorized search for the runaway daughter of a detective.

A 911 call from an apartment building sparked an internal investigation of a top Baltimore cop. Detective Daniel Nicholson has been suspended, accused of flashing his badge while off-duty to conduct an unauthorized search at the Sinclair Gates apartments. He was looking for his teenage daughter, Moriah, who authorities say ran away after a fight with her father.

The teen disappeared from her home in the Gwynn Oak community on Friday without any money or her cell phone. Monday, she contacted Baltimore County Police, the agency handling the case.

"On Monday, she turned herself in to Baltimore County Police. We interviewed her and turned the case over to Social Services," said Elise Armacost, Baltimore County Police.

An internal investigation is now underway to determine if Nicholson acted inappropriately.

"The public needs to know if an officer operates or acts outside the law, we are going to take it seriously and act on it," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

WJZ has learned in 2011, Detective Nicholson was charged with second-degree assault for whipping his daughter after he found her Facebook page.

"Basically the complaint from 2011 involves a charge that he hit her with an electrical cord or coaxial cable," Armacost said.

Charges were dropped when the family agreed to counseling. The state's attorney calls the case "an issue of discipline that may have stepped out of bounds" but says "we are re-evaluating the entire case."

Wednesday night, the FOP voiced its support for Detective Nicholson, saying the union stands behind him.

Nicholson made national headlines in 2010 as the lead investigator in the search for Phylicia Barnes, a teen who went missing from Baltimore. She was later found dead.

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