Baltimore Police officer in viral video accused of using patrol car as weapon stands trial

Antrell Smith remembers the roar of the engine.

On Oct. 28, 2025, Smith was outside Wylie Liquors Bar in Northwest Baltimore with a group of people when Baltimore Police Officer Robert Parks pulled up and told them to move along.

They complied. But Parks started following Smith.

“Hey, Antrell. Come here,” Parks told Smith. “Just don’t make it worse.”

Smith started to walk away. That’s when Parks turned down an alley, accelerated and drove directly at Smith, who ran into a field.

“I was struck by the vehicle, trying to get away,” Smith testified Tuesday in the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse.

Parks, 32, who’s been with the police department for more than six years, is standing trial this week in Baltimore Circuit Court on charges of attempted second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless driving. A bystander recorded the encounter, which went viral on TikTok.

Circuit Judge Dana Middleton is presiding over the bench trial.

Before testimony began, Parks rejected a plea offer that called for no jail time. He later took the witness stand and stated that he did not intend to cause any harm.

“I’m trying to go around him,” Parks said. “I’m not trying to make contact with him.”

In his opening statement, Assistant State’s Attorney Steven Trostle said Parks escalated the interaction, behavior that nearly cost Smith his life.

“He decided, ‘I’m going to get my man,’” said Trostle, chief of the Public Trust and Police Integrity Unit. “‘I’m going to drive crazy. I’m going to put everybody in danger.’”

Parks continued to pursue Smith before eventually losing control of his patrol vehicle and crashing into a fence.

No reasonable police officer, Trostle said, would have acted in a similar way.

But Chaz Ball, Parks’ attorney, said his client was “attempting to bring a wanted criminal into custody.”

Smith had an open warrant for failing to appear in court.

Ball said Smith is “not Usain Bolt,” referring to the retired sprinter and eight-time Olympic gold medalist from Jamaica. Parks could have run Smith down if that had been his plan, Ball said.

“There was no intent or motive,” Ball said in his opening statement. “It’s just somebody trying to do his job.”

Parks is free on home detention. He remains suspended without pay.

Smith, 46, of Northwest Baltimore, testified that the patrol vehicle hit his left knee.

As Parks continued to chase him, Smith testified, “I just kept running. I was scared for my life.” He said he was unaware that he had a bench warrant.

On cross-examination, Smith testified that he did not know Parks was trying to arrest him. He said he was not armed.

Following the encounter, Smith said, he flagged down a stranger who gave him a ride to his father’s home.

Smith testified that he had never met Parks.

His supervisor, Sgt. Abdulsalam Ajikobi, testified that Parks never told him that he drove at Smith.

When a friend sent him the viral video, Ajikobi said, he filed a report to internal affairs.

Meanwhile, Parks testified that he’s known Smith for several years and personally arrested him on four previous occasions.

Detective Salman Ahmed informed Parks that Smith had an active arrest warrant. He was “displaying the characteristics of an armed person,” Parks testified.

“Those movements are ingrained in me,” he said. “I’m a very proactive officer.”

Smith, he said he believed, was walking toward his vehicle. So Parks said he was concerned about a “fleeing felon with a potential firearm.”

He said he decided to employ tactics that are taught at the police academy.

Parks said he was neither angry nor upset, and that he did not believe he struck Smith with his patrol vehicle.

Instead, Parks testified, he was distraught that he crashed into a fence. He said he apologized to the homeowner and helped her clean up the yard.

Policing, he said, can be a “never-ending cat-and-mouse game.”

“His job is not to get caught,” Parks testified. “My job is to catch him.”