Friday News Hit: DPD conducting manhunt, Craig excoriates Shelby Twp chief, county won't charge Amazon driver
A manhunt is underway for a 19-year-old male believed to be the shooter in the killing of an Eastpointe man late last May during the first night of protests that rocked the city of Detroit. Police are looking for Tyjon Casaya-Scott Hites, who has now been charged homicide murder in the first degree and felony firearm.
The case stems from an incident reported around 11:30 p.m. May 29 in a parking lot in the area of Congress and Randolph when Javar Harrell was sitting in a vehicle with two others when Hites allegedly walked up to the vehicle and started shooting. All three occupants fled the vehicle, including Harrell who later collapsed and died.
Police arrested one other in connection with the murder; 22-year-old Omoni Bryant who was charged on two counts of accessory after the fact to a felony and one felony firearm. Bryant was arrested Monday in a traffic stop and has had his bond set at $10,000.
One arrested, one still missing in case of the 21-year-old Eastpointe man who was killed in late May
A manhunt is underway for Tyjon Casaya-Scott Hites, a 19-year-old man believed to be the shooter in connection with the 21-year-old Eastpointe man who was killed May 29. Detroit Police have already arrested Ooni Bryant, a 22-year-old who was charged with 1 count of accessory after the fact and one count of weapons felony firearm.
Harrell's death is not believed to be connected to the protests in Detroit that Friday night, which was the first of many demonstrations that have blanketed the center every day for the last two weeks. However, the first couple of evenings when people would gather, there were violent confrontations between police and protesters. There have been several arrests made during the protests, but the violence has been kept to a minimum after the riots morphed into better-organized gatherings.
In the wake of George Floyd, there have been several novel interactions between police and the community - some peaceful and some violent. But amid the physical actions taking place is a growing consensus over holding individuals in law enforcement accountable for actions deemed inappropriate or unlawful.
Among one of the higher-profile examples is Detroit Police Chief James Craig who offered his take on the Shelby Township Police Chief who was placed on administrative leave after leaving racist comments online.
"There is that whole adage about tone set from the top, so if this is how he feels, how do the men and women in his department feel?" asked Craig. "If he can just publically and blatantly make statements like that, he is a disappointment to myself and all of my colleagues across this country that wears the badge of chief of police."
Chief Robert Shelide wrote several now-deleted tweets from an online account where he said he wanted to, "Unleash real cops and let them take care of these barbarians." In another, the chief called a group of protesters "wild savages ... saying, "I wish to God I would have been there. Body bags for these vicious subhumans."
Detroit Police Chief James Craig thinks Shelby Chief should be fired for tweets
After tweets promoting police brutality by Shelby Twp Chief Robert Shelide, DPD Chief James Craig and Pastor Maurice Harwick think he should lose his job.
Shelide's comments came in reference to the protests that had turned increasingly violent in cities across America, shifting from peaceful demonstrations into rioting and looting. What started in Minneapolis when the third precinct of the police department where the officer that killed George Floyd operated out of was burned to the ground, has spread across the country, and eventually across the world.
Reactions from law enforcement have been varied. Some, like the sheriff out of Genesee County, walked with the protesters after taking off his helmet and setting down his baton. Others have taken a more law and order approach in the face of the demonstrations.
Shelide hasn't been involved in any kind of response since being placed on administrative leave as the department said it was investigating the actions.
New developments in case of Amazon delivery driver arrested after illegal parking
In another incident featuring many layers of law enforcement, public outcry, racial tensions, and prosecutorial disagreement, the Macomb County Prosecutor officer rejected recommendations made by the Warren Police Department to charge Jaylen Bond, the 23-year-old Amazon delivery driver.
On Tuesday, Bond was arrested by a Warren Police officer following a disagreement that turned physical after the delivery man parked the wrong way on the wrong side of the street while delivering packages. Neighbors who missed the initial encounter after just interacting with Bond returned outside to find an officer on top of him, placing him under arrest.
The scene started as a disagreement over whether Bond could park where he did. The officer informed him he couldn't and asked for his license. Bond refused. The back-and-forth escalated before the officer tackled Bond. Dashcam footage recorded all the audio but only caught the first half of the interaction on video.
On Wednesday, Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer released the footage, with an announcement the department would be recommending charges of resisting arrest and disobeying a lawful command.
Thursday afternoon, the Macomb County prosecutor declined to follow up with the case.
"I stand by submitting the warrant and I don't have problems or any objections if the prosecutor's office feels that there's not enough probable cause to issue the warrant," said Dwyer. "For lack of probable cause."
The incident sparked an outcry from protesters who believe the police officer, who is white, should be fired after the arrest. Bond's mom says her son has been "tormented" by the arrest. His cousin said he's "broken."
"When their spirit is broken, when they're beat up for no reason. No reason," said Josephine Gardner. "He parked on the wrong side of the street so he could assist a customer."
Daily Forecast
A slight chance of showers on Friday is the only forecasted precipitation for the weekend, which will sit in the 60's and 70's for most of the time.
Noticeably Cool Weekend Ahead
If you're heading out and about this morning, we're in the 50s. By lunchtime, expect temps to jump to around 70s with highs in the low and mid 70s this afternoon. Though most of us should stay nice and dry through your Friday afternoon, there is a slight chance for a few spotty showers this evening. No thunderstorms are anticipated. Saturday will stay cool with highs in the upper 60s. If 70s and 80s aren't your style, we're in the 80s to near 90 by the end of next week.
Twitter testing prompt that asks people to read articles before retweeting them
Twitter is testing a new tool that asks users if they’d like to open articles and actually read them before retweeting to their followers.
The feature is being tested on Android phones in English “to help promote informed discussion,” the company said Wednesday.
“Sharing an article can spark conversation, so you may want to read it before you Tweet it,” Twitter Support wrote.
When someone goes to retweet the link to an article on Twitter but hasn’t clicked through to the story, they may be shown a pop-up message asking if they would like to read it before retweeting.