Midland County Grand Jury Indicts Tye Anders With Evading Arrest

MIDLAND, TX – A Midland County grand jury indicted Tye Anders on Thursday for the sole charge of evading arrest according to District Attorney Laura Nodolf.

Anders was indicted on one count of Evading Arrest with a Motor Vehicle, which is a state jail felony in the state of Texas. State jail felonies are often referred to as 'fourth-degree felonies' and are punishable by up to 180 days to two years in a state jail facility if a defendant is convicted.

Anders’ arrest on May 16 hit the national news after multiple bystander's posted videos showing several Midland police officers pointing guns at him as he lay facedown in the grass unarmed. The video received countless scrutiny following the death of George Floyd, who died after Minneapolis police officers kneeled on his neck during an arrest.

Arrest affidavit for Anders' arrest detailed the few minutes before the bystander videos began. According to the affidavit, Anders failed to pull over after an officer initiated a traffic stop for allegedly running a stop sign and continued driving until he reached his grandmother’s house which was roughly two blocks form where the officer initiated his lights.

The city of Midland recently released the body and dashboard camera footage of the incident in response to the public's outcry and allegations by Anders’ attorney that his client had been struck by an officer during his arrest. Nodolf said at the time her office had, "reviewed all footage and did not see any evidence of wrongdoing by police".

Anders’ indictment comes as a protest of his arrest has been planned for June 27 at Midland’s Washington Park, organized by a Dallas civil rights group that goes by the name of Next Generation Action Network.