Phoenix officer in controversy over Facebook post pleads not guilty to aggravated assault
An 18-year Phoenix police officer pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault in his initial appearance Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court.
Officer Tim Baiardi, 44, is accused of slapping a man who was handcuffed at a Walmart.
The court released the officer on his own recognizance since he attended his hearing and did not have a criminal history.
Baiardi also is among police officers under scrutiny after social-media posts came to light earlier this month as part of the Plain View Project.
The project by Philadelphia lawyer Emily Baker-White created a database of public Facebook posts and comments made by current and former police officers across the country that contain racists or misogynistic statements or condoned violence.
Assault charge stems from shoplifting arrest
The aggravated assault charge against Baiardi stems from the arrest of Roger Moran Dec. 7 on suspicion of shoplifting at a Walmart on the corner of 51st Avenue and Indian School Road.
Moran, 22, resisted arrest and grabbed the officer's genitals, according to a motion filed by Baiardi in court.
READ: Family that claims Phoenix police used excessive force to file $10M lawsuit
Baiardi punched and kneed Moran in order to handcuff him, according to a police report and surveillance video. Additional footage shows the officer slapping the man after he was handcuffed and sitting on a bench inside the store's loss-prevention office.
"As soon as Moran sat down, Officer Baiardi slapped Moran across the left side of his face with considerable force," according to a probable-cause statement filed in court.
The court records show the officer denies hitting Moran and did not provide justification for doing so when asked by supervisors.
Release conditions allow travel to Mexico, N.Y.
Baiardi's release conditions said the officer is seeing a counselor voluntarily due to stress of the current situation.
He is not allowed to contact the victim or go back to the scene of the crime. However, he is allowed to take a family vacation to Mexico and attend a family wedding in New York.
According to court records, Baiardi was a New York City police officer for five years before working in Phoenix. He responded to Ground Zero on 9/11. He moved to Phoenix in November 2001.
The Facebook post
Baiardi's social-media post included in the Plain View Project's database is from 2013.
A screenshot in the database shows Baiardi posted on Facebook about the murders of Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian in Knoxville, Tennessee. Racial tension surrounded the case. The victims were white and the five people convicted were black.
Baiardi's post, captured in the database, accused Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, NAACP, the ACLU and others of not caring about the victims because of their race.
The project found 179 questionable posts from 97 current and former Phoenix officers.
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said she was shocked by the posts and has pulled some officers from their duties.
Williams has asked for an internal investigation to determine whether the officers named in the database actually made the comments and whether the comments rise to the level of misconduct.
Reach the reporters at lauren.castle@gannett.com and uriel.garcia@azcentral.com. Follow them on Twitter: @lauren_castle and @ujohnnyg.
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