By Tim Stelloh -
NBC News
Five Memphis police officers were fired later Friday for violating department policies during a traffic stop in Tennessee earlier this month that resulted in the hospitalization and death of a 29-year-old man.
A Memphis police administrative investigation found officers allegedly violated multiple policies, including use of excessive force, duty to intervene and duty to assist at the Tire Nichols traffic stop on Jan. Police Chief CJ Davis in a statement.
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The officers were identified as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith.
They were hired between 2017 and 2020.
“The Memphis Police Department is committed to protecting and upholding the rights of all citizens of our city,” Davis said.
"The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work our officers do, with integrity, every day."
Efforts to contact agents on Friday were unsuccessful.
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In an emailed statement, the president of the Memphis Police Association, Lt. Essica Cage-Rosario, cited an ongoing criminal investigation into Nichols' death and declined to comment on the firing of the officers.
"The citizens of Memphis, and more importantly, the family of Mr. Nichols, deserve to know the full account of the events leading up to his death and what may have contributed to it," he said.
[The London policeman who confessed to sexually abusing fifty women during his career]
In a statement, the family's attorneys said the firing of the officers was a first step toward justice for Nichols and his family.
"They must also be held accountable for depriving this man of his life and his son of his father," lawyers Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said in a joint statement.
The statement added that in the coming days they will review the body camera video of the traffic stop, “to clarify what led to the loss of this young man, father and son.
We will continue to demand transparency and accountability in this case, and we will not stop until we get full justice for Tire and his family."
A portrait of Tire Nichols at a memorial service in Memphis, Tennessee, on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. Adrian Sainz / AP
Authorities have stated that officers stopped Nichols for reckless driving on January 7.
A "standoff" ensued, the department said at the time, and officers pursued Nichols as he fled on foot.
As they tried to stop Nichols, another confrontation ensued and Nichols complained that he was short of breath, according to the department.
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Nichols died three days later.
The authorities have not provided details about the confrontation.
A photo provided by his stepfather showed Nichols hospitalized with blood on his face and a swollen eye.
The case is also being reviewed by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department, which announced earlier this week that it had opened a civil rights investigation.