An MTA police officer is facing
charges after a woman involved in a crash with an MTA bus said he took her home
and raped her.
An MTA police officer is facing
charges after a woman involved in a crash with an MTA bus said he took her home
and raped her.
Investigators said police were
called to a home on Duncan Street for a reported rape around 5 a.m. Thursday.
The victim told police she had just been raped by a police officer, according
to charging documents.
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The woman was taken to Mercy
Medical Center, where detectives took over the investigation.
According to charging
documents, the victim told investigators she was driving home around 3 a.m.
Thursday when she was struck by an MTA bus in the vicinity of Madison Street
and Central Avenue. As a result, uniformed officers responded.
After the accident was
investigated, the woman told investigators she got into the back of one of the
police officer's marked patrol vehicles, and the officer drove her back to her
friend's house on Central Avenue. The victim said although she attempted to
reach her friend, the friend did not answer any of her phone calls.
The woman told the officer that
her home was nearby, so the officer drove there. Once there, the victim said
she walked into her front door and began to close the door, when she noticed
the officer making his way in uninvited, according to charging documents.
The officer pushed her onto her
living room couch and raped her, according to charging document. The victim
said she saw the officer wearing the name tag of Johnson on his uniformed
shirt.
After the rape, the officer
left her home, and that is when the victim called 911, according to charging
documents. She was taken to a hospital.
Investigators said the woman
was able to identify MTA Officer Martez Johnson, 26, as the man who raped her.
Investigators confirmed Johnson was the officer who responded to the earlier
crash, according to charging documents.
Johnson was arrested and charged
with second-degree rape and second-degree assault. Court records show Johnson did not have a
criminal record prior to the incident. He was released on bail after his
arrest.
MTA officials said he'd been on
the job for 20 months.
MTA Police Chief Col. John E.
Gavrilis released a statement Thursday afternoon, saying, "We are
disheartened and disgusted over the alleged violation that this officer broke
the public's trust and harmed an individual. He has been suspended without
pay."
No one came to the door at
Johnson's Baltimore home Thursday night, but one of his neighbors, who didn't
want to be identified, had only good things to say about him.
"He's constantly over here
asking, 'Do you need anything? Do you want anything?' He shovels my sidewalk.
He's out back shoveling," the neighbor said, dismissing the
allegations. "No. There's no
way."
Neighbors on the street told 11
News they're sad and frightened by the incident.
"It could happen to
anybody, but that's sad. What's it going to do to her now? What's it going to
do to that young girl?" said one neighbor who didn't want to be
identified.
Baltimore City police are
leading the investigation with the help of the MTA Police.
11 News reporter Kai Reed
contributed to this article