An Officer -- and an Ungentle Man

When two men delivering furniture for a reputable retailer end up getting shot by a customer, something has gone terribly wrong. When the shooter is a police officer and the incident took place in Prince George's County, alarm bells go off -- uh-oh, here we go again, say residents who have lived through all too many cases involving overzealous cops.

Then, when the police department leaps to the shooter's defense -- announcing initially, before any investigation, that the unarmed deliverymen would probably be charged with assault -- the groans of exasperation grow louder.

And when it turns out that the shooter is an officer who has been criticized again and again over many years for being a volatile, violent man, well, sometimes the stench of an incident can be overpowering.

Last month, when Prince George's police Cpl. Keith Washington shot Marlo Furniture deliverymen Robert White, who remains in critical condition, and Brandon Clark, who died Friday from the gunshot wounds, we quickly learned of allegations that Washington on three occasions lit into officers of the Simmons Acres Homeowners Association in Accokeek, where he lives. Washington was accused of "yelling, screaming and cursing" at one association leader, shoving a second in the chest and assaulting a third. A misdemeanor charge filed in one of those incidents was later dropped.

Washington won his current job as the county's deputy director of homeland security because County Executive Jack Johnson considered him "mentally tough." Johnson and Washington are fraternity brothers and occasionally dine together; Washington has served as Johnson's driver and has worked on and donated money to Johnson's campaign.

Whatever happened last month, the long list of allegations about Washington's aggressive, in-your-face behavior raises powerful questions about just what he is doing in a position of authority in county government.

"He's a volatile guy, rude and arrogant," says Terrell Roberts, a lawyer for a Hyattsville man who sued Washington over a 1997 incident in which the officer was accused of harassing and tormenting a witness after a traffic accident. "For what he's done, he shouldn't be a police officer."

"It's almost 10 years ago, but there's not a day that goes by when I don't think about what he did to me," says that witness, David Paul Maslousky, an auto mechanic who won $210,000 in damages in his suit against Washington. The award and verdict were partially upheld and partially overturned by an appeals court; in a retrial, Washington prevailed.

Neither Washington nor two lawyers who have represented him in the past returned calls about the shooting or previous incidents. Washington has denied any wrongdoing.

Maslousky, his friend Paul Essex -- a Prince George's lawyer who was involved in the 1997 accident -- and other witnesses to Washington's behavior at that scene described the officer in court as curt, argumentative and frightening.

In his testimony, Essex gave this account of their exchange:

When Washington arrived, he said, "You caused this accident."