Cincinnati police officer fired after stalking woman with an AirTag in car

A Cincinnati police officer was fired after he placed an electronic tracking device in a fellow officer's car and used it to follow her.

On Oct. 6, Officer Darryl Tyus, 46, pleaded guilty in Hamilton County Municipal Court to an amended charge of attempt to menace by stalking, a misdemeanor. After that, he was placed on administrative duty and his firing was approved by the city manager Tuesday.

According to a copy of a Cincinnati Police Department internal investigation released by the department, Tyus had been involved in a "personal relationship" with a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office deputy from 2008 to 2022. The investigation found he stalked her for several weeks last April.

All of it reportedly happened while he was off duty.

Chief says officer broke trust

“I will not (waver) from the high ethical standards that 'we' as a community demand and expect from our CPD officers. What Darryl Tyus did by knowingly stalking a woman, causing her to feel threatened and fear for her life, is the exact behavior our officers are sworn to prevent," Police Chief Teresa Theetge said in a news release. "For the Cincinnati Police Department, the community’s trust is the foundation of what gives us the authority to perform our daily duties. Tyus not only broke that trust, but he broke the law that he took an honorable oath to enforce."

Internal investigation finds he stalked coworker

According to his personnel file obtained by the Enquirer through a public records request, Tyus had been with the department since 2005. He briefly resigned in 2006 due to a failed fitness test and was rehired the following year. He was transferred between different districts through the years until he ended up in District 2 in 2019, where he remained until his firing.

In April 2022, Tyus put an Apple AirTag in the woman's car and used it to track her for weeks, according to the internal investigation. Once, he followed her to her friend's home and damaged the friend's property. It's not clear what type of property.

The woman told investigators she thought he was going to damage her professional reputation if she told the department what Tyus did.

After Tyus agreed to pay back the woman's friend, the document continues, he showed up at her house after she told him she didn't want to be involved in the transaction.

She then filed an emergency temporary protection order but was denied.

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office passed her information to Cincinnati Police Department, because she lives in the same police district where Tyus worked and often ran into him at the jail while they were on duty.

Text messages: 'I do fear retaliation and for my life.'

According to the investigation, before she filed a protection order, Tyus texted the woman: "As if I can't f--- your life up, you don't know what I am capable of."

"If you wish to pass out threats that's cool too I'm sure the guy on Vera doesn't know anything and you're truly unsure what I'm capable of if you wish to place our place of employment on the line."

He reportedly used a Google Voice number through texts, the document continues.

"I have no idea what he is capable of and I do fear retaliation and for my life," the woman said. "He works the district I live in and I don't feel safe with him working there."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Officer fired after planting Apple AirTag in woman’s car, stalking her