Officer Pleads Guilty in Attack on Unarmed Man

A Hyattsville police officer pleaded guilty yesterday to using a metal baton to assault an unarmed man who had done nothing to provoke the attack.

The officer's identical twin brother, a Riverdale Park police officer, is charged with second-degree assault in the same incident, which occurred in January 2008. He is scheduled to go to trial Monday, although his attorney said he thinks the charge will be set aside, authorities said.

According to a statement that prosecutors read in court yesterday, the incident in a parking lot in the 5900 block of Ager Road began about 8 p.m., when Melty Castillo-Hernandez and a stranger he'd just met noticed red laser dots being pointed at them.

They then saw two men, who looked identical, following them. Castillo-Hernandez said he saw a Chevy Blazer with a Hyattsville police decal, and a Riverdale Park police cruiser.

Todd O. Prawdzik, the Hyattsville officer, asked the two men whether they had somewhere to go. When Castillo-Hernandez asked whether the men were police officers, Prawdzik struck him on the top of the head with an expandable metal baton.

Yesterday, Prawdzik, 34, entered an Alford plea to a charge of second-degree assault. In an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit to a specific act but acknowledges that the state has enough evidence to obtain a conviction.

Prince George's District Judge Robert Heffron imposed a sentence of one year of probation, suspended, and three years' unsupervised probation, officials said. Prawdzik's attorney, Timothy F. Maloney, declined to comment. Hyattsville police officials did not return phone calls.

State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said he was pleased with the guilty plea, which he believed would lead to Prawdzik's leaving the police force. "This conviction ensures Mr. Prawdzik will never again have police powers which he might abuse," Ivey said.

Prawdzik's twin brother, Jeff, is also charged with second-degree assault in the incident. His attorney, Robert C. Bonsib, said he anticipates that the state will place the charge on the inactive docket.

Bonsib said Jeff Prawdzik "is not guilty. He did nothing wrong."

Asked whether Jeff Prawdzik had been prepared to testify against his twin, Bonsib said his client was "prepared to testify about what occurred truthfully and accurately if it had gone to trial."