Officer fired in Tyre Nichols case had minor reprimands

By ADRIAN SAINZ
Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Records obtained by The Associated Press show a Memphis police officer who hit Tyre Nichols with a stun gun during a traffic stop that preceded Nichols’ brutal beating by other officers had a prior record of minor reprimands. Preston Hemphill was fired Feb. 3 after an internal Memphis Police Department investigation showed he violated multiple department policies for his role in the Jan. 7 arrest of Nichols, who died in a hospital three days later. Hemphill’s personnel files show a negative report on an evaluation; a written reprimand issued after he broke his assigned ticket printer; and another written reprimand issued after he crashed his police car.