An Annapolis man is facing a number of criminal charges after allegedly throwing his infant child to the ground then trying to run down an officer with his car Wednesday afternoon, Annapolis Police said.
Devonte Simms, 22, turned himself in at police headquarters after the incident that began with an altercation between him and the mother of his child.
According to a police report, the woman told police Simms tried to hit her with his vehicle and with a baseball bat. She told police he then picked up their infant child, who was strapped in a car seat, and threw the child and car seat to the ground.
Simms' cousins who live nearby in the same apartment complex questioned the report.
"I really don't see him throwing down the baby, because every family function that we have, everything that we do family-oriented, he always has his children. When you see him, you see one of them at least," Rashida Thompson said.
"He's definitely a good person,” added Mika Lively, “Something had to happen for him to do that, and I don't see him hurting his kids at all."
Simms wasn't there when officers arrived, but officers saw the car he had been driving on Forest Drive.
They tried to stop the car, but Simms allegedly kept going and started driving erratically, officers didn't pursue the car.
Officers were still speaking to the victim on Bens Drive when they saw the car speed through the community and through the chain link fence separating Bens Drive and Victor Parkway.
Simms' car proceeded down Cypress Road, where another officer came across the vehicle and saw Simms driving. Simms stopped the car briefly, and the officer walked up to it. Simms then allegedly accelerated towards the officer, almost hitting him.
"Another officer was around the corner,” Cpl. Amy Miguez with the Annapolis Police Department said, “The officer stopped his vehicle. The suspect's vehicle stopped. So the officer got out of his vehicle to approach. That's when the guy accelerated towards him and almost hit him."
Simms fled down Forest Drive and abandoned the vehicle in the Newtowne 20 community. Officers, with the help of Anne Arundel Sheriff's Office K-9 and Anne Arundel County Police Department Air Unit, tried to find Simms, but they didn't.
As officers were calling off the search, Simms turned himself in at police headquarters.
He was charged with numerous traffic violations and nine criminal counts. Simms is being held at the Jennifer Road Detention Center on $100,000 bail.
*ABC2 News reporter Jeff Hager contributed to this report.
