Dead in a murder-suicide, who was former Baltimore County cop Robert Vicosa?
Robert Vicosa was found dead Thursday afternoon in an apparent murder suicide after a brief police chase. Vicosa was a former Baltimore County police officer, recently terminated.
In the car with him was Tia Bynum, also a Baltimore County officer, and two girls, believed to be Vicosa's daughters, Gianna and Aaminah.
Who is Robert Vicosa?
Vicosa was hired by the Baltimore County Police Department on Dec. 11, 2002, under the name Robert Brown. He changed his name to Robert Vicosa sometime after 2008.
He committed a number of infractions during his time with the police department, leading to his eventual demotion and firing.
Update: Vicosa, Bynum, 2 children dead after Pa. police pursuit
Timeline: Vicosa murder-suicide began with violent weekend assault, girls' kidnapping
Robert Vicosa's career as a Baltimore County police officer
Early in his career, he failed to appear in district court on two dates in 2007 and 2008. The first incident led to a written reprimand, while the second resulted in a one day loss of leave.
After that, there was a period of about 10 years without any reported infractions. During this time Vicosa received two promotions up to sergeant in Precinct 1.
According to his official record, between June 2018 and July 2019, Vicosa "engaged in an ongoing course of improper conduct with three female subordinates.
"The actions involved viewing inappropriate videos in their presence, making inappropriate remarks of a sexual nature, and leering."
Vicosa requested a hearing by a trial board, which found him guilty of five of six of the allegations made against him. He was demoted back down to officer and lost 45 days of leave.
At some point during the last 10 years of his career with the Baltimore County Police Department, he met Bynum, who would later help him flee police.
Why was Robert Vicosa fired?
On March 27, 2012, allegations were made against Vicosa that he had been sleeping on the job on at least two occasions, refused orders to be trained or perform required duties and displayed conduct unbecoming an officer.
Vicosa again requested a hearing by a trial board, which convened to hear the allegations.
Four days later, Vicosa was reported again for subordination, and again requested a hearing by a trial board. Before the second board could convene, the board reviewing the March 27 allegations had made the decision to take 20 days of leave from Vicosa and terminate him.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Robert Vicosa of Red Lion, involved in murder-suicide — who was he?
