PGPD Suspended PGPD Officer Indicted by Grand Jury

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Radames Gonzalez​

A Prince George’s County grand jury indicted a suspended Prince George’s County Police officer today.
Corporal Radames Gonzalez faces 11 charges to include extortion, false imprisonment and misconduct in office. Gonzalez is accused of demanding payment to overlook motor vehicle violations during two separate traffic stops.
In November of 2018, the Prince George’s County Police Department alerted our community to an officer’s suspension after one resident came forward alleging that he paid an officer cash during a traffic stop at the officer’s demand in lieu of receiving a citation. Upon hearing of this allegation, Chief Stawinski immediately launched an Internal Affairs Investigation. The officer’s police powers were suspended the same day. A second citizen came forward early in the investigation. The traffic stops were conducted in Temple Hills.
The Prince George’s County Police Department brought this case to the State’s Attorney’s Office for review and consideration of criminal charges.
“If proven true, the community must know that this department will not tolerate any officer, regardless of rank, betraying the trust of our residents and abusing their police powers. Each of us swears an oath which grants us both extraordinary authority and extraordinary responsibility. I expect all officers to conduct themselves with integrity commensurate to that oath and in the overwhelming majority of cases they do. A small number fail to do so, and there are consequences” said Chief Stawinski.
If anyone had a similar experience with Gonzalez, they are asked to call our Internal Affairs Division at 301-772-4795.

Corporal Gonzalez has been with the department for 13 years and is assigned to the Bureau of Patrol. In light of the indictment on felony charges, Gonzalez’s status moves from suspended with pay to suspended without pay.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: https://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at https://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at https://so.md/expungeme.