A U.S. Capitol Police officer was accused in a federal indictment of taking part in an unauthorized vehicle chase two years ago and trying to conceal his involvement in the incident, in which a motorist was injured, authorities said Friday.

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       Thomas Smith, 44, a member of the force for 10 years, pleaded not guilty Friday to an indictment that describes an improper chase in Northwest Washington on June 20, 2020, and a subsequent coverup. He is accused of violating the civil rights of the person he pursued, making false statements to authorities, falsifying police records and obstructing justice.

       Smith’s attorney, J. Michael Hannon, did not return a phone message seeking comment after Smith made his initial appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington. A Capitol Police spokesman said Smith has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case and an administrative investigation.

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       On the night of the incident, Smith, in uniform and driving a marked sedan, was assigned to ride past the Washington-area homes of members of Congress, making “dignitary checks,” the indictment says. It says that shortly after 11:30 p.m., he began pursuing “two motorized cycles” at high speed southbound on Wisconsin Avenue NW, between Reservoir Road and M Street, in the Georgetown area. The indictment does not cite a reason for the chase.

       Capitol police policies “prohibit police vehicular pursuits outside the Capitol grounds, except in emergencies and only upon supervisory approval,” according to the indictment. It says Smith did not seek approval or notify a dispatcher that he was involved in a chase.

       The police car collided with one of the cycles, the indictment says, and the person riding the cycle, identified only as “W.W.,” was hurled into the air “before he hit the asphalt roadway,” suffering cuts and abrasions. The indictment says Smith drove away, taking “no action to seek any medical assistance for W.W. and to ensure no further harm came to him as he lay in the roadway.”

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       After returning to a police garage with the damaged sedan, the indictment says, Smith attempted an elaborate ruse to make it appear that he had been driving a Capitol police SUV that night, not the sedan. The coverup involved surreptitiously switching vehicle keys in a supervisor’s office and making false entries in computerized logs, according to the indictment.

       Before the end of Smith’s overnight shift, D.C. police notified Capitol police of the crash in Georgetown. When Smith’s sergeant asked “whether Smith had any knowledge of the collision,” the indictment says, “Smith made false statements to … conceal his responsibility for the collision,” telling the sergeant that he had been driving an SUV “throughout his entire shift.”