KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Editor's Note: This story was corrected to reflect that the woman in the police wagon was not arrested with Bailey. She had been arrested during an earlier incident.
The Knox County District Attorney General's Office said no criminal charges will be filed after a man died in police custody earlier in January, saying he died from an accidental overdose after swallowing two bags of drugs while in a police wagon.
Robert Bailey, 41, died while in the custody of the Knoxville Police Department on January 6. Police said he became unresponsive as they were taking him to the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility in a KPD transportation wagon.
DA Charme Allen's office reviewed video footage from inside the vehicle, which she has publicly released. In the roughly 2-minute video, she said it showed the moment Bailey swallowed a bag of drugs. Bailey could be seen putting something in his mouth around 30 seconds into the video.
Officials later released 11 videos taken from different officer body and surveillance cameras the night Bailey died in custody. 10News has compiled those videos below.
Editor's Note: The police videos below contain strong language and disturbing footage. Viewer discretion is advised.
The DA said Bailey's autopsy report was issued on January 25, saying the medical examiner concluded he died of an accidental drug overdose.
Allen said Bailey's family attorney was contacted before she released the video to the public, but said her office has not received a response.
"Per our procedure, we attempted to meet with Mr. Bailey’s family and allow them to review evidence before any evidence was released to the public. We made repeated efforts to contact the Bailey family through their attorney by phone, text, and email. Despite our repeated requests to meet with the family, we have not heard from their attorney today," the DA's office said in a press release. "Even though their attorney is not answering our calls, we hand-delivered a copy of the findings to his office, and we remain hopeful that we will be able to meet with this family who lost a loved one, as we are able to do in the vast majority of cases without issue."
The DA's office said the incident on January 6 began shortly after midnight. A KPD officer pulled over a vehicle at the intersection of Linden Avenue and Cherry Street for a broken headlight.
The officer said Bailey and another woman were in the vehicle. The officer asked for Bailey's license and insurance and said they discovered Bailey had outstanding warrants for domestic assault and a parole violation for drug violations when running his records.
The officer took Bailey into custody without incident, according to the original KPD report. Another woman was in the wagon with him. A K9 unit was called to check the vehicle, and KPD said the K9 alerted to an odor of controlled substances coming from it. A search revealed a small amount of cocaine, according to the DA.
The DA said as KPD took the two to jail, Bailey removed a bag of drugs from his pants and began stuffing several smaller bags into a compartment of the wagon. The DA said the woman yelled at him to stop, and as she yelled Bailey put one of the bags in his mouth.
The DA said Knox County Sheriff's Office intake officers found Bailey unresponsive when they opened the vehicle door to book him into jail. The DA said the officers radioed a "Code Blue" to alert KCSO nurses about a medical emergency, saying personnel began CPR and gave Bailey overdose-reversal medication.
After medical assistance was provided on the scene, he was taken to UT Medical Center via AMR, where he was pronounced dead, according to KPD.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began looking into Bailey's death. The forensic center conducted an autopsy the next day, with the TBI saying foul play did not appear to be involved in his death.
Toxicology results revealed Bailey had fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, hydrocodone, and 4-ANPP in his system, the DA said. Bags of drugs were collected from his esophagus and from the KPD wagon and analyzed by TBI forensic chemists.
"Death was caused by acute fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and hydrocodone toxicity with other significant conditions of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Based on all currently known and available information, the circumstances surrounding and leading up to the death, and autopsy findings, the manner of death is determined to be accident," the Knox County autopsy report said.
The DA's office said investigators interviewed Bickerstaff, who revealed Bailey had picked her up that evening. She said the two smoked methamphetamine earlier that evening, according to the DA. Bickerstaff said Bailey had also tried to hand her a bag with multiple smaller bags of drugs after police pulled them over, saying she refused. She said Bailey then shoved the drugs down his pants. According to the DA, she did not tell investigators this information until January 18.
Allen said ethical rules prohibit the release of evidence to the public while the investigation is ongoing. Allen said she had remained in contact with the Bailey family's lawyer and had no intention of withholding information from them.
“It is my obligation as a lawyer and the chief law enforcement officer in this jurisdiction to ensure that the law is followed, the rights of the individual are protected, and justice is administered,” she said. “Releasing evidence before the appropriate time has the potential to both compromise the integrity of the investigation and violate the rights of the criminal accused. Without a thorough investigation, our ability to learn the truth is hindered and justice cannot be served. Every family deserves to know the truth. As soon as I received the final autopsy report and completed the investigation, I could share the truth with this family. Tragically, Mr. Bailey died of a drug overdose.”
The family's attorneys released a statement late Wednesday afternoon about the video. They said they had no comment about the cause of Bailey's death, but said they were disappointed in how it was handled by the District Attorney.
A portion of the statement can be read below:
As an attorney, I am especially disheartened that DA Allen broke her word to the Bailey family and has thus far offered nothing to explain, much less excuse, her actions in setting up a meeting with them, promising to show them all of the videos, and then breaking that promise.
The family has every reason to believe the justice system failed them. While we have little confidence that DA Allen will be more sympathetic or truthful to grieving families like the Baileys in the future, we are confident that from now on, other attorneys and the media will step up to hold her office accountable under similar circumstances.