Assault cases against a county police officer and a former sheriff’s deputy romantically involved with a co-worker concluded this month, with an acquittal and a probation before judgment ruling, respectively, according to court records.
The cases involved Cpl. Trey Keller of the Anne Arundel County Police Department and former deputy Matthew Beall.
Keller, a nine-year veteran, was charged with second-degree assault and a fourth-degree sex offense in June 2022 . According to charging documents, a female contractual employee accused Keller of touching her inner thigh as they responded to a call in his patrol vehicle. She also reported Keller had asked her a sexual question.
Soon after the accusations Keller was placed on administrative suspension with pay, police wrote in a news release.
Keller was found not guilty of both charges by retired Howard District Judge Neil Axel, who was brought in to preside over the case. Keller’s defense attorney, Peter O’Neill, told The Capital testimony from several character witnesses — including other women who had worked calls with Keller in a similar capacity — was a deciding factor in court Thursday.
On Friday police spokesperson Marc Limansky confirmed Keller’s active employment at the department, saying he’s been working in a nonoperational administrative role since June 2022.The two assault cases against Beall were considered together in circuit court June 1. Beall resigned from his county position less than two weeks later, on June 14, according to a human resources coordinator at the sheriff’s office.
Last year Beall was charged in two domestic violence cases involving another employee at the sheriff’s office with whom he was romantically involved.
On the evening of July 11, 2022, county police responded to the Marley Station Mall parking lot after a 911 caller reported he had seen a man throw a woman to the ground. The caller told authorities the man was still in the lot.
Officers spoke with Beall, who told them he was going to Gold’s Gym and was not there with a woman, police wrote in charging documents. With no victim present and because Beall didn’t match the caller’s description, the officer let Beall leave and closed the case without filing charges.
The next day, however, command staff during former Sheriff Jim Fredericks’ term met with a lower-ranking deputy who had knowledge of the incident. At that time, the sheriff’s office was made aware of the accusations against Beall but did not report the incident to county police for several days, delaying any investigation.
The other case against Beall involved a June 2022 altercation on Creekside Village Boulevard in Glen Burnie. In this case the same woman from the Marley incident accused Beall of trying to break into her car and attack her, according to charging documents. She told police he was “extremely intoxicated” at the time.
Beall was charged with second-degree assault in both incidents, and on June 1 he was granted probation before judgment for the Marley Station incident and found not guilty in the Creekside Village case.
The 18-month probationary period is unsupervised, according to court records.
O’Neill, who also represented Beall, said his client is barred from contacting his accuser, who sheriff’s officials confirmed Friday still works at the office.
Beall was issued a 30-day suspension without pay soon after he was accused, according to the sheriff’s human resources department, before moving to a paid suspension status for the rest of 2022.
In January, Beall returned to the sheriff’s office in a light-duty capacity, according to a department official. During that time, and until his resignation in June, he worked in a separate location from his accuser and had “zero contact” with her, the sheriff’s office said.