Witness saved me from Memphis police unit that stopped Tyre Nichols, man says

Lawyers for Monterrious Harris released images showing his injuries after he encountered Scorpion unit officers

Just three days before a now-disbanded special police unit stopped Tyre Nichols in Memphis, it stopped another black man, 22-year-old Monterrious Harris, in an apartment complex in the city.

According to Mr Harris, how he was initially treated was similar to the traffic stop that ultimately led to the death of Mr Nichols.

Five former Memphis officers - all belonging to the so-called Scorpion unit - have been charged with murder over the death. Video showed officers shouting at and beating Mr Nichols.

The same five officers were involved in the stop of Mr Harris, but he told the BBC there was one major difference between his case and that of Mr Nichols - a bystander who witnessed what was happening.

He thinks the woman, who he did not know, deterred officers from becoming more violent. "I just thank God she was there and she came outside because there is no telling how bad it could have gotten," he said.

Mr Harris was visiting his cousin at the apartment complex when a group of men wearing black ski-masks surrounded his car with their guns drawn.

"They were telling me get out the car or we're going to shoot," he said. "I thought I was being carjacked or robbed."

He said the men did not identify themselves at first - he did not see signs that they were police - nor did they provide any reason for approaching him.

More coverage

• Who was Tyre Nichols?

• Memphis reckons with murder charges for black officers

• Police unit disbanded after Nichols' death

• Policeman took and shared photos of Tyre Nichols

Panicking, Mr Harris described reversing quickly before hitting something and finally exiting his vehicle with his hands in the air.

"As [one of the officers] got closer, I could see he had on this magazine and pepper spray and stuff like that," he said. "I still didn't know he was a police officer."

"One of the guys took my head and banged it to the concrete," Mr Harris said, adding that he was punched in the face.

"It gashed my forehead open a little bit. And then it just got so bad, to the point where I started screaming my cousin's name like I needed somebody to come help me."

During his encounter with police, residents in the apartment complex could hear Mr Harris screaming.

This was the moment Mr Harris recalls one woman shouting out: "He's screaming for his cousin, somebody go get his cousin".

"I'm really thankful for even just that lady being at home," he said. "You could tell by just hearing the things that they were saying to me and the aggressiveness they had - they wanted to do something. They did what they could do, but they probably wanted to do more."

After being arrested and taken to jail, a nurse urged him to go to hospital to have his injuries examined.

He spent five days in jail. The day after his release his father sent him an article about the death of Tyre Nichols and told him he was lucky to be alive.

Mr Harris has filed a $5m (£4.1m) lawsuit against the five same officers who were charged with the second-degree murder of Mr Nichols.

He said he was grateful to be alive and had been thinking about the woman who got the officers' attention. "I feel like she kind of saved my life because they just kept threatening to shoot me," he said.

According to the police affidavit, officers were investigating the apartment complex when Mr Harris began "screeching his tires" and drove at the officers before stopping. It says they could smell marijuana, and that Mr Harris tried to escape after abandoning his vehicle.

It does not mention a physical altercation, but says Mr Harris was in possession of a handgun and live ammunition. According to the lawsuit, Mr Harris' cousin had entered the car carrying his legally registered gun before leaving it in the vehicle to get his belongings from inside.

It says Mr Harris did not "know that his cousin was armed or that there was a firearm in his vehicle".

He was later charged with trespassing, evading arrest and various drug offences but no weapons charges. His legal team dispute some of the details in the police affidavit.

Robert Spence, Mr Harris's lawyer, said: "In order to stop any citizen, an officer has to have probable cause. And they had no probable cause to interact with Mr Harris. And so when they wrote up their affidavit, they had to have a reason."

The BBC has contacted the Memphis Police Department for comment.