When Baltimore County police responded to a call about a man possibly experiencing a mental health crisis inside an Eastpoint Mall office last year, officers found Councilman Todd Crandell apparently drunk and belligerent.

Crandell initially refused help, yelling at police to leave him alone, according to the police report. When he pulled open a desk drawer to reveal a fully loaded handgun, an officer — fearing for everyone’s safety — slammed it shut and restrained him, de-escalating the situation. The councilman was later transported to a hospital for an evaluation.

While the Dundalk Republican has publicly acknowledged his struggles with alcoholism, the altercation with police only came to light after Crandell’s wife filed a protection order against the councilman in May, according to court records.

Some advocates from the Black community and defense attorneys say law enforcement gave Crandell more grace than the average Baltimore County resident because he’s an elected official.

“I could not imagine one of my clients not getting arrested under those circumstances,” said Natalie Finegar, a defense attorney who practices in both the county and the city.

County police spokesperson Joy Stewart said the department responded appropriately: “Our officers’ immediate responsibility was to ensure he did not harm himself.”

Defense attorney Andrew Alperstein, a former Baltimore County prosecutor, said he understands not charging Crandell in the moment, but officers often return later to arrest and recommend charges.

Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said police did not consult his office and that he first learned about the Eastpoint Mall incident in the news.

“I think the police use their discretion and they got him the help that he needed,” Shellenberger added.

Finegar said that it’s against state law to handle a firearm while intoxicated, which is stressed in Maryland gun safety permit classes.

Police records show that a week after the Eastpoint Mall incident, the department seized all of Crandell’s guns under an extreme risk protective order — using a state Red Flag law that restricts a person’s ability to access or purchase guns because they pose a danger to themselves or others.

Crandell did not respond to requests for comment.

‘Police use their discretion’

Alex Leikus, a Baltimore area defense attorney who co-hosts the podcast Raw Justice, said police departments have changed how they handle suspects since a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd in 2020.

“Police officers go out of their way to be nice now,” Leikus said. “They have to, because it’s being recorded.”

Leikus said he defended a client who had a mental health episode at a city mall during the pandemic. That man served more than a year in jail.

Similarly, Finegar said she’s overseen cases where police arrest her clients while they are mid-crisis inside a mental health hospital.

Stewart said that when officers are assisting a person in crisis, “safety and stabilization are priorities.”

That Crandell had a gun in his office at a public mall should change the calculus about whether the councilman committed a crime, Leikus said.

“You can’t just be walking around the Orange Julius with a gun,” he said.

Double standard?

Former Randallstown NAACP president Ryan Coleman said Black county residents are questioning whether police would respond to a Black person in crisis in the same way they managed Crandell.

“I think most people will lean that Crandell got special treatment probably because he’s a councilman, might be more so than his color,” he said.

J. Wyndal Gordon, a defense attorney who represented the family of Korryn Gaines — a Black woman killed by a Baltimore County police officer in 2016 — said he could not believe Crandell wasn’t charged.

“This case is just another example of police exercising the restraint training that they have, but have chosen not to use in other cases,” he said. “Korryn Gaines certainly was not afforded that type of consideration.”

Police shot and killed Gaines, and injured her 5-year-old son, Cody, after an hours-long standoff with officers trying to serve a traffic warrant.

This year, Baltimore County police have shot five people while responding to calls — including mental health crises — in which people were armed with knives, guns, and in one case, a bow and arrow. Police officers killed two men. It is unclear whether the crisis team responded to each case.

‘That’s not a crime, until it is ...’

Peter Moskos, an associate professor at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that county police handled the Eastpoint Mall situation properly.

Moskos, a former Baltimore City police officer, specializes in researching police use of force. He said Crandell wasn’t charged because no one was hurt.

“He just sounds like a drunk jerk,” Moskos said. “But that’s not a crime, until it is.”

One day after Crandell’s wife asked the Baltimore County District Court for a protection order in May, police inspected Crandell’s car.

Someone reported that the councilman was in a “suspicious condition,” striking curbs.

Records show an officer only found “an indentation to the driver side rear bumper directly on the corner.”

What is Crandell’s political future?

Several of Crandell’s constituents told The Banner that the councilman and his staff had ignored their calls, emails and meetings.

He’s taken leaves of absence over the past year for in-patient treatment and missed several council meetings — but was a key vote on several measures, including council expansion.

The Banner contacted all six other council members about their District 7 colleague’s future.

Only Councilman Izzy Patoka commented, saying he has not spoken with Crandell about his political future. Last month, Crandell said he hasn’t made a decision about running in 2026.

Thomas Bostwick, the Baltimore County Council’s legislative counsel and secretary, referred questions about council protocol to the County Charter and County Code. Neither lays out a path for what to do if a council member is involved in an altercation with police.

Two previous councilmen, Sam Moxley and Todd Huff, decided not to run for reelection after being arrested and charged with DUI — although Moxley only after his second arrest. Both are white.

Many Black residents think that if Crandell were Black, he’d be out of office, Coleman said.

The first Black councilman, Ken Oliver, nearly lost his position on a technicality — he had a contract state job when the council pushed forward a charter amendment prohibiting council members from taking state jobs. Oliver resigned his state job to keep his county one.

“Quite frankly, at times, whites are treated more fairly,” Coleman said. “They get the benefit of the doubt.”

Finegar agreed.

“There are those with connections, clout and power,” the defense attorney said, “and they are treated differently on a regular basis.”