An arrest has been made in connection with the accidental shooting death of D.C. police officer Wayne David.
Officers arrested 27-year-old Tyrell Lamonte Bailey on Wednesday night just before 10:30 p.m., police told WTOP.
Bailey now faces the additional charges of possessing a firearm with an altered serial number and unlawfully discarding a firearm and ammunition. He had been wanted on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Police said Wednesday that officers with the department’s robbery suppression unit saw Bailey exiting a “suspicious vehicle” on Quarles Street Northeast on Aug. 28 at about 5:40 p.m.
The officers parked, began patrolling the area on-foot then Bailey fled “unprovoked,” according to the court documents. When officers approached him, he fled toward DC-295 southbound where he got on the back of a motorcycle and outran police.
The statement of facts submitted by police to the court does not mention a “suspicious vehicle,” and that review of body camera as well as other footage has allowed police to go into more detail about the officers’ interaction with Bailey than was available to support the initial arrest warrant.
After running from officers, police said he jumped down from a retaining wall and then tossed a gun down a storm drain on the side of the road.
David, a 25-year veteran of the force, attempted to retrieve the gun, but it went off, striking him in the head.
David was rushed to the hospital by police helicopter and later died, police said.
Less than two hours later, technicians with D.C.’s Department of Forensic Sciences showed up, removed the grate from the storm drain and recovered the gun, according to court documents.
First court appearance
Bailey was ordered held without bond Thursday during his first appearance in court.
His next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 10.
After the hearing, Bailey’s grandma, Sheila Bailey Wilson, said Bailey is a hardworking man and father and protested her grandson’s arrest.
“Police started with him looking suspicious in an alley. Pictures show he was on his cellphone in the alley,” she said.
She added, “You can’t trust police.”
How police said Bailey got away
After allegedly ditching the gun, police said Bailey flagged down a passing motorcyclist and fled the area on the back of the motorcycle. The next day, the motorcyclist went to police and told them Bailey said he was being robbed and that people were trying to kill him, according to court documents.
According to the driver of the motorcycle, Bailey had no shoes on. Police recovered one of his shoes, court documents state, near the retaining wall where Bailey jumped while running from officers.
The motorcyclist did not see any police around, and only realized he had helped someone that police were looking for when family members said their motorcycle was on the news, the documents state.
Identifying Bailey
After reviewing footage from that day, police identified a gold Honda Accord, registered to Bailey, in which they found his driver’s license and a McDonald’s receipt from a few days earlier. Surveillance footage from the time of that transaction shows a person consistent in appearance with Bailey driving the Honda through the drive-thru window.
After police shared images of Bailey on social media, an individual came forward to police saying they were positive it was Bailey, and that Bailey had recently served a lengthy prison sentence and was released within the past two years.
Police showed a series of photos to the tipster, who said they were related to Bailey, and the individual said they were positive Bailey was the one in the photos.
One of Bailey’s charges stem from his unlawful possession of a weapon due to the fact he’s been previously convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment. According to court documents, Bailey was sentenced in May 2017 to seven years in prison on one count of interference with interstate commerce by robbery and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence.
“I want to thank the members of the Metropolitan Police Department and express my appreciation for the community for their tips and information that led to identifying and the arrest of this individual,” said D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith in a statement. “Our focus is on honoring the memory and legacy of Investigator Wayne David and giving him an exceptional send off during his funeral services next week. Our department continues to heal, and we’ll continue to support the family as they grieve and heal.”
WTOP’s Scott Gelman and Jack Moore contributed to this report.
