Death of Tyrone West

Tyrone Antonio West was born on May 22, 1969, to Phillip West and Shirley Anderson at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

He was raised by his aunt Diane Butler and his uncle Clifton Anderson.

West was a talented artist and fitness buff in good physical condition, standing six feet tall and weighing 237 pounds.

He was known by the nickname Weeda, described by family as an avid baseball fan with three children and two grandchildren.

The criminal history of Tyrone West dates back to 1991, with prior convictions of assault, battery, use of a deadly weapon with intent to injure, and handgun and drug violations.

Notably, West had three previous convictions for resisting arrest, was charged with attempted first-degree murder in 1999, and had prosecutors drop additional charges in another attempted murder case.

West borrowed a 1999 Mercedes-Benz owned by his sister, school teacher Tawanda Jones, when an acquaintance named Cortinthea Servance contacted him for a ride.

West was described as an unlicensed cab driver who provided transportation to neighborhood residents.

Servance met him at the intersection of Loch Raven Boulevard and Winston Avenue in the North Baltimore neighborhood of New Northwood.

They drove four-tenths of a mile to the intersection of Kitmore Road and Northwood Drive to eat the boxes of chicken West had picked up.

After a few minutes, Servance asked West to back up in the intersection and turn east on Kitmore Road, deciding to return to her mother's house on Kitmore.

They were passed by officers Chapman and Bernardez-Ruiz driving an unmarked police vehicle wearing ballistic vests and BPD badges but not in uniform, all according to standard protocol for the Northeast Operations Unit.

They observed a dark green Mercedes unsafely backing into an intersection and turning eastbound on Kitmore Road at which point they turned around and began to follow the car.

The officers recall the Mercedes accelerating well above the speed limit, while Servance maintains West proceeded slowly while balancing the chicken box in his lap.

The driver and passenger reportedly made suspicious movements inside the car after making eye contact with the police.

The cars had proceeded one block east of Northwood Drive on Kitmore Road when the officers initiated a traffic stop at 7:13 p.m., citing suspicious behavior and backing into an intersection.

West turned south on Kelway Road and stopped the car adjacent to 1365 Kitmore Road.

The temperature remained around 91 °F (33 °C) with a heat index of 102.9 °F (39 °C) and 61% humidity.

Both officers approached and asked if the occupants were carrying drugs, asking them to step out of the car at which point Servance refused.

Police requested a female officer to search Servance and both suspects were placed on the curb while the car was searched.

During questioning, police claimed to notice a bulge in West's sock, discovering a bag of cocaine when West shoved Officer Bernardez-Ruiz backward.

Possession of cocaine would have been in violation of his parole and would have likely resulted in an eight-year prison sentence.

Investigators later claimed to have found 13 bags of cocaine in the car totaling roughly a gram.

After convictions for assault and drug distribution in 2000, West spent twelve years in prison before being released on parole during the summer of 2012.

He was living at 2413 Guilford Avenue in North Baltimore during the summer of 2013.

Ten Baltimore Police officers and two Morgan State University officers of white, black, and Hispanic descent were eventually on scene during the arrest and death of Tyrone West.

Eight of the ten Baltimore police officers were investigated including Derrick Dewayne Beasley, Jorge Omar Bernardez-Ruiz, Nicholas David Chapman, Matthew Rea Cioffi, Alex Ryan Hashagen, Eric Maurice Hinton, Latreese Nicole Lee, and Danielle Angela Lewis.

Additionally, David Lewis was investigated, one of the two Morgan State University patrolmen who responded.

On July 18, 2013, Tyrone West, a 44-year-old African American male, was pursued by two officers of the Baltimore Police Department after he fled a traffic stop during which cocaine was allegedly found.

The cocaine later went missing in police possession after a subpoena was issued.

West was on parole at the time of this incident with an extensive criminal record including assault, resisting arrest, and attempted first-degree murder.

West ultimately died during the scuffle with police and various medical experts have given conflicting assessments of contributing factors including cardiac arrhythmia, dehydration, positional asphyxia, and extreme environmental temperatures.

Seventeen days prior, on July 1, 2013, Nicholas Chapman and Jorge Omar Bernardez-Ruiz allegedly used excessive force to subdue a man named Abdul-Jaami Salaam during a traffic stop in Baltimore.

Chapman was also involved in a $147,000 settlement in an excessive force lawsuit after a jury found in favor of two men - Leo and James Green, who filed suit against five officers, including Chapman, for battery and false arrest after a traffic stop on June 13, 2013, eighteen days prior to the assault on Abdul Sallaam and thirty-five days prior to the death of Mr. West.

Baltimore temperatures on July 18, 2013, were well above normal with a high of 97° F (36° C), humidity as high as 87%, and a heat index of at least 105.5 °F (41 °C).

The incident fueled tension in the North Baltimore community, playing a contributing factor in the eventual Baltimore riots of 2015.

The death of West drew attention from notable African American leaders including U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and celebrity Charles Barkley.

Three separate investigations, both internal and external, repeatedly exonerated the officers involved, but a series of police actions were identified that negatively impacted the encounter.

The incident, and subsequent recommendations made by an independent panel, encouraged the police department to make significant procedural changes.

Salaam was eventually awarded $70,000 in damages on March 29, 2016, in the resulting civil suit against Chapman, Bernardez-Ruiz, and a cohort.