Two Anne Arundel County Police officers are facing charges of misconduct in office in a deadly crash in 2023 in Pasadena.

Cpls. Kieran Schnell and Eddie Vasquez were indicted Friday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, according to online court records.

Schnell, 27, is charged with two counts of misconduct in office. Vasquez, 29, is charged with one count of misconduct in office.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has scheduled a news conference Monday to announce the indictments.

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In a statement, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad said she and her executive command staff reviewed all the evidence available and were “not aware of any conduct demonstrated by our officers that rises to the level of a violation of criminal law.”

“We respect the judicial process, however, it is important to remind our community that an indictment is merely an accusation and not a finding of guilt, and our officers are presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Awad said.

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2 Anne Arundel officers are being investigated after fatal crash

On Dec. 7, 2023, two Anne Arundel County Police patrol vehicles were following a 2011 Infiniti G37 that was driving fast over the Stoney Creek Drawbridge without its lights on, prosecutors reported.

Police, prosecutors alleged, were also driving fast and did not turn on their emergency lights.

Not long after they drove over the bridge, the car crashed into a utility pole at the intersection of Fort Smallwood and Bar Harbor roads, not far from Geresbeck’s Food Market in the Riviera Plaza shopping center, prosecutors asserted.

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The passenger in the car, Damione Gardner, 22, of Baltimore, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Traffic cameras captured the vehicles going over the drawbridge. Body camera video showed the aftermath of the crash.

“Sir, are you OK?” Schnell asked after he tried to open the driver’s door.

Peter O’Neill, Schnell’s attorney, said his client is innocent of the charges and has never done anything that could be characterized as misconduct in office.

O’Neill called the indictment “frankly outrageous.”

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“We don’t understand what the thought process is here to charge these men who are working to protect the citizens of this county,” O’Neill said. “And it really sends a terrible message to the members of the police department about doing their jobs.”

Vasquez’s attorney, Chaz Ball, declined to comment.

When reached by phone, Vasquez said, “At this point, I don’t have any comment right now.”

Schnell and Vasquez were issued summonses, court records state, and are scheduled on Jan. 6 to make their initial appearance.