Three Aprils ago, rain fell gently on the windshield of officer Christopher Schurr’s police cruiser. It was a quiet Monday morning, local schools were out for spring break. Schurr drove slowly down a residential street on the southeast side of Grand Rapids just after 8 a.m. when a grey Nissan passed him from the opposite direction.
It would have been difficult for Schurr to see the vehicle’s license plate before he wheeled around to follow the vehicle. But he later would say the plate was the reason he pulled over the car with two Black men inside.
As soon as the vehicles stopped, one of those men, Patrick Lyoya, stepped out of the sedan and faced Schurr, ignoring Schurr’s shouts to stay in the car…