WASHINGTON – 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 questioning 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 state's attorney's office.
Brown was arrested near the campus in College Park this month after police said he assaulted an officer who tried 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 since Brown had given the owner collateral. He said prosecutors now believe Brown was resisting an unlawful arrest, as he is 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.
A lawyer for Brown did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday afternoon.
A Baltimore police spokesman said Brown remains a person of interest in a non-fatal shooting in that city last month.
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