Body camera footage shows Baltimore County Councilman Todd Crandell belligerent, uncooperative, apparently drunk and yelling at police to release him during an encounter at the Eastpoint Mall last year.

After Crandell opened his desk drawer to reveal a fully loaded handgun, Officer Janet Landsman — a member of the department’s mobile crisis team, assigned to mental health situations — immediately shut the drawer and stepped between it and Crandell.

It took Landsman and several other officers about 15 minutes to remove the councilman from his office into the hallway of the mall. Landsman tried to coax Crandell to put on his shoes and leave voluntarily, but she handcuffed the 55-year-old when he refused to move.

“You don’t know fucking shit,” he told Landsman at one point. “Let me go.”

“Don’t yell at me,” Landsman said.

“Or what?” Crandell said while sitting handcuffed and barefoot in a folding chair.

“Fuck you, fuck hospital,” the councilman added.

The body camera footage of the incident at Crandell’s district office in the mall was released at The Banner’s request after it came to light in the wake of Crandell’s wife filing for a protective order against the councilman in May, according to court records.

Crandell has publicly discussed his struggles with alcoholism, and some constituents have complained he’s been less attentive recently.

The police report from the mall incident said the Dundalk Republican eventually was transported to Franklin Square Medical Center in Rossville. While there, police wrote, Crandell told Landsman, “I will shove my Glock up your ass,” after she refused to uncuff him.

Crandell did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

‘My job is to make sure that you’re safe.’

Body camera footage shows Landsman made multiple efforts to deescalate the situation with Crandell, informing him that officers had arrived to ensure his safety after receiving calls from concerned family members and friends.

“My job is to make sure that you’re safe, and I can’t be certain that you’re going to be safe today,” she said in the June 2024 recording.

At one point while still sitting behind his desk, Crandell said: “Can I just, just, fucking — here, here,” then he opened a drawer.

Landsman promptly moved the councilman out of reach of the firearm while another officer confiscated the gun.

“We’re going to the hospital,” she said. “You’re gonna go easily. You’re gonna go willingly. Stand up. We don’t have to make a scene.”

Once Crandell was seated in the hallway outside his office, Landsman and other officers called for a medic to transport him to Franklin Square.

In the footage, you can hear people in the mall milling one floor below near a pizza restaurant and a children’s play area.

The councilman accused Landsman of preaching to him and laughed in her face.

“This is bullshit,” he said.

No arrest or charges

Crandell was neither arrested nor charged in the wake of the Eastpoint Mall encounter.

“When assisting a person in crisis, safety and stabilization are priorities,” police spokesperson Joy Stewart said.

Stewart said the department has served over 1,300 emergency petitions this year, and only 31 cases, less than 3%, have resulted in criminal charges.

Stewart described the incident involving Crandell as an emergency petition. The police report labeled it an “emergency evaluation.” Under Maryland law, a health professional, law enforcement officer or other interested party may file for a petition for emergency evaluation when they believe someone presents a danger to themselves or others.

Body camera footage shows Crandell repeatedly asking officers whether he’s done anything wrong.

“You are not under arrest, Todd,” Landsman said. “You’re going to the hospital.”

‘Make difficult decisions’

None of the six other council members has spoken to Crandell directly about his behavior.

Councilman Izzy Patoka said the council is still in shock.

In a previous interview with The Banner, Crandell said he had not decided whether to run for reelection in 2026.

“I think my voting record speaks for itself,” he said last month. “Caring for people hasn’t changed.”

Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier said in a statement that she was proud of the way police handled the situation but hinted Crandell’s political future may be in jeopardy.

“I urge the councilman, as well as our council partners, to make difficult decisions that are in the best interest of constituents and government operations moving forward,” she said.

Banner reporter Rona Kobell contributed to this article.

This article has been updated to correct that Todd Crandell was subject to a petition for emergency evaluation.