A Gaithersburg man will serve 21 years in prison for first-degree and second-degree assault of Montgomery County police officers in 2023, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge ruled Thursday.
Jermaine Palmer, 36, was sentenced by Judge John Maloney to 38 years in prison, suspending all but 21 years to serve, according to a press release from the Montgomery County State’s Attorney Office sent Thursday.
Palmer was found guilty in August on charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault on law enforcement, second-degree assault, resisting arrest and possession of a controlled dangerous substance.
According to charging documents, police were called to an apartment building on Spiceberry Circle in Gaithersburg due to reports of a man banging on people’s doors and spraying a fire extinguisher throughout the halls. A resident of the building directed officers to Palmer as the culprit, but Palmer refused to identify himself and resisted arrest. Palmer punched an officer in the face, knocking him to the ground and rendering him unconscious. He then fled to the nearby Flower Hill Shopping Center.
Officers followed Palmer, ordering him to stop, but he did not comply. They pursued Palmer into a nearby McDonald’s, where they once again tried to arrest him. Palmer resisted and punched two officers in the face multiple times with a closed fist. He was arrested in the McDonald’s parking lot after a brief struggle, according to the charging documents. He was later searched and found to be in possession of crack cocaine.
