According to bodycam video from the traffic stop, a suspect trying to escape in his car from the encounter was dragged by a female Michigan State Police trooper.
The female trooper cries at the suspect, “Stop and let me out, stop and let me out now,” as a car’s engine begins to rev.
According to Michigan State Police, the unnamed trooper stopped a vehicle in Jackson County at 9 a.m. on Sunday and detained a suspect later identified as Tavion Beasley. The officer smelled marijuana during the regular traffic check for speeding, as seen on the video.
“Do you have marijuana burning right now,” the trooper asks the suspect.
Before the scene descended into mayhem, Beasley answered, “Yes, ma’am.
According to Michigan State Police, the motorist was initially cooperative when the trooper requested him to get out of the car after she saw “illegal activity.” In the footage, the trooper can be seen patting the man down before telling him to follow his car.
“Are you not supposed to be smoking while you’re driving?” the cop asks the man, who agreed he should not be smoking marijuana while driving.
“So, you know it’s illegal to be smoking while you’re driving. … On top of that, you were doing 92 miles an hour,” the trooper added.
Throughout the bodycam video, the suspect can be seen talking on his phone until the trooper tells him to put the phone down, sit down, and cease making phone calls.
The trooper then tries to hold Beasley by his arm as he moves towards the driver’s side of his automobile.
“Put it in the park,” the officer tells the man as the camera captures her trying to prevent him from driving.
Her body camera was removed during the battle but was later found, authorities said, and she begged him to stop as the car’s engine accelerated and the footage ended.
“The suspect vehicle continued driving for approximately ½ mile with the trooper partially in the vehicle, reaching speeds near 100 mph before the trooper was able to get the car stopped and get free,” Michigan State Police said in a press release.
According to Michigan State Police, the trooper who was hurt in the incident “is continuing to recover at home.”
According to law officials, Beasley ran away but later surrendered after talking to his family.
He is being detained at the Jackson County Jail on accusations of causing bodily harm to a police officer, carrying a hidden weapon, and assault with the intent to murder. He is being jailed under a bail of $500,000.
“The MSP is thankful our trooper is safe and survived the ordeal. As we teach our troopers, there are no routine traffic stops as we never know what we are walking upon. Our troopers are taught to always be ready for anything at a moment’s notice as the situation can change,” Lt. Rene Gonzalez told Fox News Digital.
Police officers routinely engage in high-risk, potentially fatal situations during traffic stops. According to a recent BBC analysis, traffic stops were a factor in 7% of all police killings nationally last year. Because they enter the scenario unprepared and do not know what risks a motorist may present, cops are cautious while conducting traffic stops, according to a head of the National Fraternal Order of Police.
After a three-year recuperation from an incident in 2020 in which a defendant struck the officer with a vehicle and dragged him more than 100 feet, a police officer in Fort Worth, Texas, rejoined the force this summer. Another Massachusetts trooper was being pulled along by a suspect driving a Mercedes-Benz when he managed to extricate himself, get into his police car, and start pursuing.
