Charges against Examiner editor dropped

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Baltimore City prosecutors dropped assault and gun-related charges against Baltimore Examiner Editor Frank Keegan on Tuesday.

“I found out you don’t have to commit a crime to be thrown in jail in Baltimore,” Keegan said after leaving the John R. Hargrove Sr. District Court in Baltimore.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Margaret Burns said prosecutors met with the alleged victim and his lawyer and assessed the viability of the case before deciding not to proceed.

She said the charges were dropped “in the interest of justice.”

Keegan’s lawyer, Charles Curlett, said prosecutors “did the right thing.”

“Mr. Keegan did not commit a crime,” Curlett said. “It’s the right result.”

City police arrested Keegan in May after the alleged victim said Keegan’s cigarette smoke seeped into his house. The neighbor accused Keegan of pointing a shotgun at him.

Keegan, 58, of Baltimore, was charged with second-degree assault and gun violations — misdemeanors — against neighbors David and Christine Ayers and their 3-year-old daughter, who, according to the police report, was in her father’s arms as he confronted Keegan.

Police were called at 11:29 p.m. to Keegan’s Federal Hill residence. Ayers, an Under Armour employee, told police he was involved in an “ongoing dispute” with Keegan regarding cigarette smoke causing respiratory problems for his daughter, Sophie, according to the police report.

Ayers attempted to confront his neighbor about the smoke, “pounding” on Keegan’s door, according to police. From inside the house, Ayers told police he heard Keegan yell, “You [expletive] lunatics, get away from my door.”

Ayers claimed Keegan “racked” a shotgun while inside his house — a charge Keegan disputes — whereupon Ayers told police he said, “Whoa, whoa” and backed away from the house.

Police confiscated a shotgun and pistol from Keegan’s residence. The police report indicated that there was no round in the chamber of the shotgun.

Ayers, who did not attend the court hearing, did not respond to telephone calls.

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com

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