After Bump Between Pedestrian, Plainclothes Officer, Cambridge Police Pursue Charges

CAMBRIDGE, MA — An apparently accidental bump has escalated into a multi-pronged array of criminal charges, after it was revealed that a tense incident caught on camera involved a Cambridge Police officer.

The Boston Globe reports 21-year-old Cleon Hodge, of Dorchester, is facing charges of Disorderly Conduct and Assault and Battery, after he and a plainclothes officer collided in Porter Square last month.

The situation escalated, as video shared by the newspaper shows, with Cambridge Detective Sergeant Thomas Ahern grabbing Hodge by the shirt. Spectators gathered and, the video shows, at one point began chanting at the officer, "Let him go!"

Police consultants and civil rights attorneys told the Globe they're skeptical whether the charges against Hodge will stick.

UPDATE: Cambridge Police Respond to Globe Article, Refutes Version of Events

Additional charges have been brought against two women, including one who recorded the incident and allegedly attempted to disrupt the officer's actions. She can be seen in the video reaching out as if to touch the Ahern as he holds onto Hodge.

According to Cambridge Police, a criminal complaint was filed against two women: one for Interfering with a Police Officer and the other with Assault and Battery on a Police Officer and Interfering with a Police Officer.

The incident, between a white officer and a black man, touches a sore spot of the national narrative regarding police and race relations, and potentially casts a shadow on a Cambridge police force that prides itself on its progressive reputation.

>> Read the full story in The Boston Globe

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