WINSTON-SALEM

POLICE DEPARTMENT
PUBLIC RECORD
RELEASE

Date:
12/11/16

Time:
1941

IR#:
1665283

Complainant/Victim/Age/Sex:
Michelle Jonae Nelson
Curtis Edward Cureton
Temporarily Withheld:
Arrestee #1:
Marvin Lenard Wardlow
Arrestee #2:

Incident:
Prepared by:
Telephone number:
House Breaking
Public Information Officer 336-773-7724
with Force
Address:
Location of Offense:
1647-A Lincoln Avenue
1647-A Lincoln Avenue
1639 Lincoln Avenue
1639 Lincoln Avenue
Home Address/Employment:
222-58 Motor Road
Home Address/Employment:

Age:
36
Age:

Sex/Race:
M/B
Sex/Race:

Arrestee #3:

Home Address/Employment:

Age:

Sex/Race:

Arrestee #1 Charges/Bond:

Arrestee #2 Charges/Bond:

Arrestee #3 Charges/Bond:

Location and Time of Arrest/Resistance/Weapons Used by Arrestee/Pursuit/Items Seized at Arrest:

Suspect(s) Description:

Race

Sex

Age:

Brief Description of Incident

At 7:41 p.m. on December 11, 2016, officers with the Winston-Salem Police Department were
dispatched to the vicinity of the fourteen hundred block of Woodruff Glen Drive on an
Unknown Trouble call for service. A 911 caller had reported that a person known to them as
thirty-six year old Marvin Lenard Wardlow was acting erratically and attempting to force entry
into nearby apartments. Mr. Wardlow was reportedly last seen running in the vicinity of
University Parkway and was described as wearing no shirt.

As officers were arriving at the scene, another 911 call was received reporting that an apartment
located at 1639 Lincoln Avenue had just been broken into. The suspect description matched the
description provided for Marvin Wardlow. A resident of the home was injured during the
breaking and eventually received medical treatment for a large laceration to his face.

The responding officers encountered Marvin Wardlow inside of an apartment located at 1647-A
Lincoln Avenue and later determined that Mr. Wardlow had also forced entry into that residence.
At the time of the officers arrival, Mr. Wardlow was being restrained by a private citizen at the
scene.

Officers placed Marvin Wardlow in handcuffs and immediately recognized that Mr. Wardlow
was in distress and displaying symptoms of a potential drug overdose or excited delirium.
Emergency Medical Services was immediately summoned to the scene. Shortly after the arrival
of E.M.S. personnel, Marvin Wardlow became unresponsive. Mr. Wardlow was transported
from the scene via ambulance. During transport, Naloxone HCL was administered by E.M.S.
personnel as part of life saving efforts. Despite those efforts, Marvin Wardlow died at Baptist
Medical Center shortly after midnight.

Authorities recovered a substance that preliminarily field tested positive for the presence of
cocaine from Mr. Wardlow, as a result of a search of his clothing. That substance will be
submitted for further confirmatory analysis as part of the investigation into this incident.

As is standard protocol, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation has been notified of
this incident and will review the matter and interview the responding officers after an autopsy is
completed. The Winston-Salem Police Departments Criminal Investigations Division has
assumed the investigation into the breakings that occurred at 1639 and 1647-A Lincoln Avenue.
An administrative investigation will be conducted by the Winston-Salem Police Departments
Professional Standards Division.
The primary responding officers in this investigation were Sergeant H.M. Bryant, Officer T. Shu
and Officer T.K. Taylor. Sergeant Bryant has served with the Winston-Salem Police Department
since August of 1994. Officer T. Shu began his employment with the Winston-Salem Police
Department in June of 2012 and Officer T.K. Taylor has been serving since December of 2014.

All of the aforementioned officers are currently assigned to the Field Services Bureau. As is
standard procedure, the officers have been placed on Administrative Duty while the
aforementioned investigations are completed.

Due to the ongoing investigations into this incident, no further information will be released at
this time. Authorities ask that anyone with information regarding this incident contact the
Winston-Salem Police Department at (336)773-7700 or Crime Stoppers at (336)727-2800.