Baltimore man assaulted by police officer in video had been charged in previous encounter with same cop

A Baltimore man at the center of a viral police-beating video had a previous encounter in June with the police officer who was filmed punching him while on duty earlier this month, according to the man's attorney.

In the previous encounter in June, Dashawn McGrier, 26, was arrested and charged with a string of criminal offenses for allegedly attacking former Baltimore police officer Arthur Williams.

But those charges, which included second-degree assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, have been all dropped by the Baltimore State Attorney's office, according to court records.

The charges against McGrier were dropped after Williams was indicted last week in the August incident, which was caught on tape and sparked widespread outrage on social media.

Williams, 25, was listed in court records as the “complainant” and the arresting officer in the June case, and a preliminary hearing had been scheduled for August.

McGrier’s attorney, Warren Brown, said he wasn’t at all surprised when he heard news that state authorities dismissed the case against McGrier last week.

“We expected that to occur, because their witness is the same person they’ve indicted for assaulting my client, so I wasn’t surprised by that,” Brown told ABC News on Monday. “The cop stated that my client interfered in an arrest or an investigation, which led to him wrestling my client to the ground.”

The second confrontation occurred on Aug. 11 when the Williams can be seen striking McGrier several times and tackling him to the ground, leaving McGrier with a fractured jaw and broken ribs.

Williams and another officer were patrolling the area when he approached McGrier and asked for identification, according to Baltimore police officials. The encounter "escalated" when McGrier refused, the officials said.

McGrier was arrested but was not charged with a crime in the August encounter.

Williams resigned from the police department the following day and was later charged with first- and second-degree assault and misconduct in office. He pleaded not guilty at his initial court hearing last Wednesday.

An attorney for Williams, on the other hand, said he was “disappointed” by the decision to drop charges against McGrier in the prior incident, in which his client was the “alleged victim and Mr. McGrier the alleged assailant."

“They have dismissed these charges but chosen to go forward in seeking and then obtaining the present indictment against Mr. Williams," Thomas Maronick, told ABC News in a statement on Sunday.

"While we are not necessarily surprised by this decision, we remain disappointed with it,” Maronick continued in the statement. “We believe that the prior incident and any facts pertaining to it are just as deserving a day in court as any charges against Mr. Williams. Now this will not happen.”

Maronick stressed that there was more to the story than what was shown in the widely circulated video earlier this month.

“We want to have our day in court and our chance to tell our side of the story,” Maronick said. He described his client as a family man, a mentor and a Marine with a clean record, but he did provide details on how the June incident unfolded.

The Baltimore State's Attorney Office did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the June incident. The office indicted Williams last Tuesday over his Aug. 11 confrontation with McGrier, which the office said unfolded before "community onlookers."

"Police Officers are sworn to protect and serve and when that oath is taken for granted and an abuse of that power is evident, we will hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law," State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said in a statement announcing the charges.

“This is an integral part to rebuilding trust in our criminal justice system."

Williams is scheduled to stand trial in Baltimore on Oct. 23.