Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's chief of staff, Demaune Millard, is taking paid leave of absence, a decision he made Wednesday after accusations surfaced that he assaulted an ex-girlfriend.
"He wants to do what is right for himself and for the mayor," said Dixon's spokesman, Scott Peterson.
Peterson said that Millard had planned to take time off after the city budget process concluded this week. Peterson said he does not know how long Millard will be on leave.
Elizabeth C. Smith, 32, a city liquor board commissioner and housing agency director, filed charges in early June accusing Millard of hitting her while the two were at an event on a cruise ship and punching her in April 2008. The next day Millard, 36, filed charges saying that she hit him.
Timothy M. Dixon, Millard's attorney, said the two dated on an off but not for at least a year, and he has never hit her.
Dixon, no relation to the mayor, said Smith was "intoxicated" and wanted to dance with Millard, grabbing his shirt. "The only time he touches her is when she tried to strike him," Dixon said.
Anthony I. Butler, an attorney for Smith, referred questions to a narrative she wrote in court papers June 7, a day after the incident. She wrote that Millard "became belligerent" while the two were talking and at some point she grabbed his shirt. He "began punching" her arm, and she let go of his shirt, she wrote.
Smith and Millard had a face-to-face meeting June 7, both lawyers said. Millard's attorney said Smith wanted to renew the relationship. Smith's attorney said Smith wanted Millard to "get help" for anger management.
In her narrative, Smith also alleges that Millard "struck" her with "a closed fist" in April 2008 when they were at his apartment. She said she left the apartment after that incident. Of that charge, Millard's attorney said: "It didn't happen."
