Two Cleveland Officers Dragged by a Stolen Car at East 79th and Chester: The Welfare Check That Went Wrong
On September 20, 2023, two Cleveland officers checking on three men asleep in a parked car learned it was stolen, waited for backup, and were dragged when the driver woke and hit the gas. The bodycam, the indictment of Muurloo Bey, the 'break in court' a month earlier, and what the record does and does not show.
At about 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, a caller reported three men "slumped over" in a car parked at East 79th Street and Chester Avenue in Cleveland's Fairfax neighborhood. Two officers went to check on them. It is the most routine call in policing, a welfare check on people who may be asleep, overdosing, or dead, and it is the kind of call that almost never ends the way this one did.
The officers ran the plate. The car had been stolen from East Cleveland. They waited for backup. Then the driver woke up.
This file is built from the body camera footage released to the FOX 8 I-Team and WKYC, the Cleveland police statement, and the indictment. Where our own earlier description of the footage differs from that record, this file says so.
What the footage shows
An officer taps the window, opens the door, and orders the driver to show his hands. He stares. The officers reach in to handcuff him. On the audio: "Stop moving. Get out of the car." The driver starts the engine and begins driving back and forth, trying to break free of the officers holding him. Both officers are caught by the open door and dragged. One is a woman; another voice on the audio shouts to "let her go." The car strikes a nearby building and a parked police cruiser and stops. The driver is arrested at the scene.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Wilfredo Diaz summarized it the same day: the driver "ignored verbal commands, turned the vehicle on and began to drive back and forth in an attempt to avoid arrest." Both officers were treated at a hospital for minor injuries.
A correction to our own description
When we first published our video on this incident, we described the car pushing through a garbage container and an officer escaping out the passenger side. That framing is not supported by any published account. Every source describes the car striking a building and a cruiser and stopping, with the driver arrested where he sat. We have corrected the description on the video page and here. The dragging itself, the close call for both officers, and the arrest are all on the footage and in the record.
The defendant
Muurloo A. Bey of Cleveland was indicted in early October 2023 on three counts of felonious assault on peace officers and one count of receiving stolen property. He has pleaded not guilty as far as the record shows, has not been reported convicted, and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The two passengers were not reported charged.
The FOX 8 I-Team added the context that made the case a local story beyond the footage: Bey had roughly ten prior felony-court cases over two decades, for stolen property, drugs, and domestic violence, and about a month before the dragging he had been released on a personal bond in a Cleveland Municipal Court weapons and drug case. Whether that release was a failure of the system or an ordinary bond decision that happened to precede a bad outcome is the argument the I-Team's reporting set off, and it is worth reading both ways.
No outcome in the felonious-assault case has been publicly reported. We will update this file if one is.
Why this case file matters
Welfare checks on occupied cars are among the most dangerous calls in patrol work, and this footage shows why in about fifteen seconds: a sleeping driver becomes a moving vehicle with two officers attached to it before anyone can step back. It is also a case where the video is the whole public record. There has been no trial, no plea reported, and no sentencing. What exists is a bodycam, an indictment, and a defendant who is presumed innocent. Our guide to reading bodycam footage like an investigator covers how to weigh footage in exactly that posture. We track the case on our court dates tracker.
Sources & records
- Cleveland 19: officers injured during arrest (Sept. 20, 2023)
- WKYC: two officers dragged, injured (Sept. 20, 2023)
- News 5 Cleveland: officers injured after being dragged (Sept. 20, 2023)
- FOX 8 I-Team: man indicted for dragging officer with stolen car (Oct. 2023)
- FOX 8 I-Team: suspect had just received a break in court (2023)
- WKYC: new bodycam video (Oct. 2023)
Case status as of this writing: Muurloo A. Bey was indicted in October 2023 on three counts of felonious assault and one count of receiving stolen property; no disposition has been publicly reported, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. This article is based on released body camera footage, the Cleveland Division of Police statement, the indictment as reported, and contemporaneous reporting. Featured image: Cleveland Division of Police headquarters signage, via Wikimedia Commons, credited below the image.
Reported to our editorial standards: records first, charges reported as charges, corrections welcomed.
Frequently asked questions
What happened at East 79th Street and Chester Avenue on September 20, 2023?+
At about 6:45 a.m., Cleveland officers responded to a call of three men slumped over in a parked car in the Fairfax neighborhood. They ran the plate, learned the car had been stolen from East Cleveland, and waited for backup. When the driver woke, an officer opened the door and ordered him to show his hands; as officers reached in to handcuff him, he started the car and drove back and forth. Both officers were pinned by the door and dragged. The car struck a nearby building and a parked police cruiser and stopped, and the driver was arrested at the scene.
Were the Cleveland officers hurt?+
Both were taken to a hospital and treated for what police described as minor injuries. Their names have not been released.
Who was charged?+
Muurloo A. Bey of Cleveland was indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury in early October 2023 on three counts of felonious assault on peace officers and one count of receiving stolen property. He has not been reported convicted and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The two passengers were not reported charged.
What was the 'break in court' reported by FOX 8?+
The FOX 8 I-Team reported that Bey had about ten prior felony-court cases over two decades, including stolen property, drug, and domestic violence charges, and that roughly a month before the dragging he had been released on a personal bond in a Cleveland Municipal Court weapons and drug case.
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