Why was Tire Nichols arrested?

Tire Nichols' mother recounts how she found out about her son's arrest 2:16

(CNN) --

Tire Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, was arrested by Memphis officers on January 7 for alleged reckless driving, according to a police statement.

That day, at approximately 8:30 pm local time, agents stopped a vehicle.

"A confrontation ensued between officers and the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Nichols, fled on foot, according to Memphis police. Officers detained him and "another confrontation ensued" resulting in Nichols' arrest, according to the police. police.

An ambulance was called to the scene of the arrest after Nichols complained of difficulty breathing, according to police, and he was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition.

On January 10, three days after the arrest, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced that Nichols had died from injuries sustained in the "use of force incident with officers." , according to a statement.

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He had a confrontation with Memphis police officers, and suffered "extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating," according to preliminary results of an autopsy commissioned by attorneys for his family.

• How and where did Tire Nichols die?

  Preliminary autopsy data

Was there reckless driving on the part of Tire Nichols?

Authorities have not released video of the arrest.

However, lawyers for the family who saw him on Monday described it as an excruciating police beating that lasted three long minutes.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Nichols was electrocuted, pepper-sprayed and restrained, likening it to the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police.

The incident happened just a few blocks from her home, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis told CNN's Don Lemon on Friday.

Police have also been unable to find anything to corroborate probable cause of reckless driving by Nichols before his fatal encounter with police, he said.

“We've looked at the cameras, we've looked at the body cameras, even if something happened before this stop, we haven't been able to corroborate it at this time,” Davis said.

Memphis Police Chief Gives Details on Tire Nichols Arrest 4:50

“The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work our officers do, with integrity, every day,” Chief Cerelyn Davis said earlier.

• Breaking news and news on the death of Tire Nichols

"We've done quite a bit of research to determine what the probable cause was and we haven't been able to corroborate that," he said. "It doesn't mean something didn't happen, but there's no proof."

It's also unclear who was involved in the initial police encounter, how far Nichols fled on foot, how officers apprehended him, how long these "encounters" lasted, or why officers felt compelled to confront Nichols twice.

Beyond the officers' body camera footage, police looked at surveillance cameras from businesses around the city, anything that could help paint a picture of what happened before the traffic stop, Davis said.

After officers pull over Nichols' car, there is a physical interaction involving Nichols as officers attempt to remove him from the car, but it remains unknown what the original reason for the stop was, the chief said.

From the start of the encounter, the chief said, the officers involved were irritated.

“The escalation was already at a high level,” Davis said.

The nature of the traffic stop was very aggressive with noisy communication and it escalated from there, he said.

The two "confrontations" between Tire Nichols and the policemen

During the initial altercation involving multiple officers, pepper spray was fired and Nichols ran, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said at a news conference Thursday.

Nichols escaped, but officers "found him again at another location and at that time there was an amount of assault that is inexplicable," she said.

“There was another altercation at a nearby location in which Mr. Nichols sustained serious injuries,” Mulroy continued.

“I heard him call his mother, his mom,” Davis said, referring to the video.

“Just contempt for humanity... That's what really strikes a chord in your heart and makes you wonder: Why was the sense of care and concern for this individual absent from the situation by everyone who Did they come to the scene?"

Then there was a "period of time" before getting medical help for Nichols after he was injured during a traffic stop by Memphis police officers, Mulroy said.

"After a period of waiting time, an ambulance took him away," he said.

• Who was Tire Nichols?

  Son, father and someone who enjoyed skating, photography and sunsets, according to his family

actions after death

The Memphis Police Department has fired five officers, all black, for violating policies on excessive use of force, the duty to intervene and the duty to render assistance, the department said.

They file charges against 5 former police officers for the death of Tire Nichols 2:24

In addition, two members of the city's fire department were fired.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced an investigation into Nichols' death, and the US Department of Justice and the FBI opened a civil rights investigation.

The federal prosecutor overseeing the federal civil rights investigation said Wednesday that he met with Nichols' family earlier this week and vowed that his investigation into the case will be "thorough" and "methodical."

"Our federal investigation may take some time, as these things often do, but we will be diligent and make decisions based on the facts and the law," said Kevin Ritz, US Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.

With reporting from CNN's Travis Caldwell, Jamiel Lynch, Nick Valencia, Eric Levenson, Jay Croft, Dakin Andone and Pamela Kirkland  

Tyre Nichols