Shelby police radio reveals woman was chased by police before assault by officer

A woman was chased by Shelby police officers in May before one punched her repeatedly, fracturing her nose, according to 911 calls and radio communications released Thursday.

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The audio was released after a petition filed by Shelby City Attorney Jason Lunsford to block their release to The Charlotte Observer was dropped in July.

The 911 calls and police radio communications were partially redacted, but fill in some gaps of the events that led up to the assault of Cherrie Moore, 34, by Karson Hyder, 22, on May 29.

Doorbell camera footage showed the actual assault in which Hyder threw Moore to the ground and repeatedly punched her before another officer pulled Hyder off and placed Moore in handcuffs.

Hyder was charged with assault and quickly fired from the Shelby Police Department. Police Chief Brad Fraser previously said Hyder’s actions were “disturbing and inappropriate.”

But before that assault took place, Shelby police officers were blocking roads near the scene of a fire at a funeral home on Buffalo Street, according to the audio.

While coordinating where officers would block roads with dispatch, one of the speakers in the audio said a person’s door had been kicked in.

Fraser said a press conference in May that Hyder and the other officer were “conducting a criminal investigation when they encountered a suspicious female in the area.”

One of the officers said a person stepped out of a building. It’s unclear in the audio if it’s the same building where a person’s door was kicked in, but the officer said the person didn’t live at the address. She was homeless.

“She said that she was at that address where the fire was,” an officer said. The woman then ran away.

Officers shared a description of what she was wearing: a black shirt, black pajama pants and a “rag” on her head. Officers could be heard working together to track her location in the audio.

An arrest warrant said Moore assaulted Hyder by grabbing and ripping his uniform. She was accused of attempting to break into a home on Booker Street, the arrest warrant said.

It isn’t said in the audio, but footage would show Hyder and another officer confront Moore in front of an apartment building.

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At the end of the audio, an officer requested EMT and transport to an emergency room.

Moore suffered a fractured nose, said civil rights attorney Ben Crump at a press conference in June. Crump was retained by Moore’s family. The high-profile attorney said Moore suffered from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and PTSD.

“She has mental health issues, and that’s not a crime,” Crump said at the press conference.

Moore was charged with breaking and entering. She was also charged with assault and resisting an officer, but those charges were dropped.

Court records show an order for arrest was returned on Aug. 18 after Moore failed to appear in court on Aug. 11. She was given a $20,000 bond, according to court records. It’s unclear if she posted bond.

Moore was also issued a subpoena for a September hearing for Hyder’s assault case, records showed.

Cleveland County District Attorney Michael Miller said in an email his officer issued the subpoena to ensure she didn’t miss her next court date.

When the video of the assault began circulating online, residents began calling 911 asking to speak to supervisors, according to audio.

In one of the 911 calls, a woman said she received video of an officer “brutally beating my niece in the face” and asked to speak to a supervisor at the police department.

A protest formed outside the Shelby Police Department shortly after was posted on Facebook. The department fired Hyder a day after placing him on administrative leave.

Another caller also asked to speak to a supervisor, saying the department would likely be facing a lawsuit after the video of the assault began to go viral online.

“This man punched this little girl in the face 20 times. This little girl did not resist,” a woman said in a 911 call. “She did not hit him. That’s insane.”

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