Center Line police traffic stop that turned physical, called 'predatory'

FOX 2 - A July traffic stop of a 28-year-old man has led to a resisting arrest charge and a host of questions from the family.

Big picture view:

Tyler Tice's mother and attorney believe he was unfairly targeted in what they are calling a predatory traffic stop by officers in Center Line.

Tice's mom contacted FOX 2 in an effort to bring awareness to the situation, and the family's attorney shared video with FOX 2 of the traffic stop.

The backstory:

The traffic stop happened just before 9 a.m. July 9 and escalated into a physical confrontation behind the Citizens Bank off Van Dyke and Timken.

Center Line police video from the bodycam may be disturbing to some viewers.

Tyler Tice traffic stop video

Video perspective:

Officer: "Put them on the steering wheel!"

The video appears to show Tice with his hands on the steering wheel looking at the officer after several repeated demands.

As the officer calls for backup, his body camera shows the other officer with his gun drawn. On the video it captures a brief glimpse of the weapon 12 seconds later.

Officer: "Driver's license, registration, proof of insurance."

Tice: "Hold on, hold on, because your partner over here, he's trippin.' My mom is a judge."

Officer: "I told you to put your hands up four times."

Tice: "I pulled out my wallet and I literally did this."

Officer: "License, registration and proof of insurance."

Tice: "All right, so, all right, I'll do it."

Officer: "One more time and I'm pulling you out of the car. License and registration, proof of insurance, grab it now. All right. Come on, step out. Step out of the car!

Tice: "Wait, wait, hold on, hold on. Let me get out, hold on."

Officer: "Go ahead and get out first."

Center Line police encounter

Dig deeper:

As both officers try to pull Tice out of the car, he tries to comply, but the confrontation becomes increasingly physical as an officer grabs Tice's lanyard.

Tice: "Need y'all to relax. Y'all please relax."

Officer: "Drop your wallet."

Tice: "I really, I really just want you guys to relax, please."

The struggle continues and tempers flair.

Tice: "I'll get out. I'll just get out."

Officer: "Then get out of the car. Stand up."

Tice: "Alright. I will, I will. Alright."

Officer: "We'll punch you in the face."

Twenty seconds later as Tice stands up with officers holding on to his arms, the situation escalates.

Tice: "Somebody help!"

The 28-year-old yells for help before he's wrestled to the ground.

After Center Line officers put a handcuffed Tyler Tice inside a patrol car, Tice questions why he's in trouble.

Tice: "Wait, what did I do?"

Police body camera video shows how the conversation escalates between Tice and the officer in the passenger seat.

Officer: You don't think you did anything wrong besides running a red light? What else did you do wrong?"

Tice then tells officers he feared for his life, claiming he saw an officer with a gun drawn.

Officer: "Why would you be afraid for your life from the police? Shut up, shut up. If you're that ignorant, then shut up. God shut the (expletive) up with that 'I'm afraid of the police' stuff, 'because I'm a Black man."

Once officers took Tice to the Center Line Police Department, body camera video shows first responders removing the taser prongs from Tice. While Tice is in the holding cell, the camera appears to catch Center Line police officers talking about keeping the prongs as a souvenir for the responding officer.

Officer: "Souvenir. I need that."

Second officer: "The prong?"

Officer: "A bunch of cops and a take home probe."

Second officer: "Do you want him to initial it for you? Sign it?"

Officer: 'An autograph, right."

Five minutes after this exchange, the responding officers then learned Tyson's driver's license and proof of insurance were valid — and he had no arrest warrants.

Tyler Tice family response

What they're saying:

"My son mentally is suffering; physically, he is suffering from being tased," said Erika Morgan. "From taser prongs being kept inside of him and not only that, the fact that egregious things to the level of wanting to keep the taser prong as a souvenir on behalf of my son, as if it was some type of trophy for the little rookie officer that they were training. Look, as a mother and as a citizen, I'm concerned."

Look back:

FOX 2 spoke to Tice's mother and his attorney, Derek Miller, after Tice's preliminary hearing back in August.

Morgan didn't want her son to speak on camera because she said he was still traumatized by his confrontation. She noted then that her son is diagnosed with ADHD and is considered neurodivergent.

Tice's attorney and his mother, who is a friend of the court referee for Third Circuit Court, spoke on his behalf. 

"Well, it is a predatory stop. It was 9 in the morning and my client was driving to deliver water to kids for a football program," Miller said. "On top of that, the sergeant in the case, his gun was drawn the whole time. Why are you pulling a gun at 9 a.m. on a traffic stop?"

Miller has a background of 15 years in law, with experience in the prosecutor's office and in criminal defense, and said this experience is a first.

"I've never seen a circumstance like this where you have two white officers brought on a traffic stop, pull an individual over, a young man with absolutely no criminal history or record," he said.

FOX 2: "Do you want those officers to keep their jobs?"

"No. As a matter of fact, I want (the sergeant) to be charged not just civilly, but criminally, because he assaulted my son," Morgan said. "From beginning to end, I was sickened by it. I was hurt by it, I cried. Um, I had a disgusting feeling because they escalated it.

"Not only did my son have a valid license, he's never been arrested and don't even have warrants. That came up before they searched his record.

FOX 2 has called the Center Line police chief and asked for an interview twice. He told us he wouldn't comment and referred us to Macomb County Prosecutors Office.

When FOX 2 contacted the prosecutor's office, a spokesperson said it couldn't comment because this is an open case.

Macomb CountyCrime and Public Safety