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WASHINGTON - A D.C. police officer is accused of first-degree assault and use of a firearm in a violent crime after Prince George’s County police say he brandished a weapon and threatened an employee at a Beltsville business early Friday morning.
Sources tell FOX 5’s Lindsay Watts that he allegedly used his D.C. police issued Glock and pointed it at a security guard.
As of Friday evening, Dennis Sfoglia was still being held at the jail in Upper Marlboro, according to the jail.
Sources say Sfoglia was at a bar with his girlfriend around 2:50 a.m. when she got in a fight with another woman. When security intervened, Sfoglia allegedly threatened the guard with the gun.
Prince George’s County police say the incident happened in the 10600 block of Baltimore Ave. in Beltsville. FOX 5 confirmed it happened at Spectrum Lounge.
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D.C. Police said in an email to FOX 5 that Sfoglia is currently on non-contact status, an assignment that does not require police powers. No attorney was listed for Sfoglia in the Maryland court database.
In 2017, FOX 5 revealed that Sfoglia’s Instagram account was taken down after racist content was reported.
DC police officer's Instagram account taken down after racially insensitive content reported
Sfoglia identified himself publicly as the account owner, even posting photos of himself in uniform. The account included content aimed at fellow police officers, including photos of officers doing acts of kindness, but the posts that attracted attention included racially-themed jokes and memes.
One post included a picture of an angry celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay with the caption, "This chicken is so black the police are screaming at it to stop resisting."
Another post depicted an officer calling an Asian woman "Sushi" after he can’t pronounce her name during a traffic stop.
In 2016, D.C. police released a photo of Sfoglia when he received the department’s lifesaving medal after helping a man who collapsed in a store.