FEDERAL HILL (WBFF) — Former Maryland Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah discussed a lawsuit against Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) for allegedly instigating unlawful arrests with false information at a press conference on Monday.
The lawsuit claims that in 2023, BGE called police to arrest peaceful protestors who objected to BGE’s installation of external gas regulators as part of its gas infrastructure plan.
Vignarajah said the lawsuit calls those gas regulators “dangerous” and part of BGE’s “profit-driven gas infrastructure plan that is now driving sky-high utility bills.”
The complaint alleges that on June 22, 2023, BGE moved to unlawfully cut off gas service to Federal Hill residents who refused to allow regulators to be drilled into the marble facades of historic homes.
When those residents gathered to object, BGE allegedly fed Baltimore police a series of false claims to compel arrests.
As a result, three women were restrained, arrested, and held for 20 hours at the Baltimore City Detention Center.
The lawsuit cites police body-worn camera footage that showed the day and the role of city politicians and the alleged reluctance of police officers to make unlawful arrests.
Vignarajah said that the lawsuit is not directed at Baltimore police, but at BGE for false imprisonment.
He cited a 1995 Maryland Supreme Court case in which it was found that a private party who instigates a wrongful arrest “for example by falsely informing a police officer that the factual basis for a warrantless arrest exists” is itself liable for false imprisonment. The complaint alleges that BGE did exactly that.
The lawsuit claims that BGE told police it had given residents legally required notice, that it held a permit authorizing the work, and that it had authority under its tariff to shut off service to customers who declined the regulators. Vignarajah said that residents only received a few hours warning and that the permit for the work covered a different block, a different kind of work, and a different kind of day.
Vignarajah said the Maryland Public Service Commission later rejected BGE’s claim, saying that there are “no provisions in the tariff or COMAR that allow BGE to terminate gas service solely on the basis of a customer’s decision to decline an exterior gas regulator.”
Charges against the three women were dropped without a hearing, and within days of their arrest, a city judge ordered BGE to restore the gas service it had unlawfully cut off after the arrests.
You can watch the full announcement of the lawsuit in our video above.
We reached out to BGE for a comment on the lawsuit. As of this writing, they have yet to respond.
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