“Get out of my face, I will destroy all of you!”
Those are the alleged words of Baltimore Police Detective Robert Burns. Burns, a 27-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, was enjoying an evening out at the Chez Joey strip club (415 E Baltimore St, Baltimore) with retired officer Bryan Hake on Sunday, November 14. The pair racked up an impressive bill, somewhere north of a grand. Hey, cops can enjoy strip clubs too, can’t they?
Well of course they can. But what they can’t do is decide not to pay their bills. But that’s exactly what seems to have happened on the aforementioned evening. Staff members at Chez Joey repeatedly asked the pair about their outstanding tab, but both officers outright refused to pay (Hake tried to pretend he had already paid). When it became clear the pair were going to walk out on their tab, the club called the police. (It is worth noting that according to public salary records reported by the Baltimore Sun, Burns earned $108,587.38 in gross pay in fiscal year 2021 on an annual salary of $95,325.)
It went downhill from there — for Burns and Hake, that is.
When responding officers asked for Burns’ and Hake’s IDs, Burns refused and became increasingly agitated, charging documents state. “Det. Burns tried several times to push, pull, and grab his way out of the establishment through the officers,” police wrote.
According to the Baltimore Sun, police claim that Burns ripped the jacket of a police sergeant while trying to throw him out of the way, “destroying the zipper and the nameplate attachment area.”
“Get out of my face, I will destroy all of you!” Burns is alleged to have said while pushing through the group of responding officers. When one of the responding officers pointed his taser at Burns, he responded incredulously, saying, “I’m calling your bluff!”
After stepping outside, police wrote that Burns was arrested without further incident. Hake gave his ID to officers after Burns was in custody, documents state. Burns is charged with second-degree assault, theft of between $100 and $1,500 and the malicious destruction of property valued at less than $1,000.
Police spokesman Detective James Moses told the Sun that Burns is currently suspended with pay and that the department would not comment further on the matter pending the internal investigation.
