BRADENTON BEACH – Bradenton Beach’s newest police officer, Andrew Lyon, sat down with The Sun on Sept. 25 to discuss allegations stemming from his past tenure in Michigan with the East Lansing Police Department.
Lyon and Bradenton Beach Police Chief Appointee Lenard Diaz discussed the past media reporting that occurred in Lansing. Diaz officially replaces John Cosby as police chief on Oct. 1.
Lyon began serving as an officer with the East Lansing Police Department (ELPD) on June 24, 2024. After an Aug. 24, 2025, incident in which he pepper-sprayed two men during an altercation, Lyon, Officer Jace Kingsbury, Police Chief Jennifer Brown and the city of East Lansing were sued by the pepper-sprayed men in two still-pending federal lawsuits.
Lyon said he was unable to comment on the specifics, but he said the use of pepper spray was a “fully justified use of force well within the force continuum in law enforcement.”
Lyon said he became the subject of criticism by Lansing media outlets after the pepper spray incident and the lawsuits that followed.
Lyon filed a defamation lawsuit against the Lansing-based WLNS television station’s parent company, Nexstar, and two of the station’s reporters. WLNS confirmed the lawsuit in one of its stories. Lyon said the lawsuit was settled in his favor, but he could not discuss the specific settlement details.
“What I can say about WLNS is a lot of the articles about me were false, which ultimately led to a defamation lawsuit on my end,” Lyon said.
He said the basis of the defamation lawsuit was the multiple inaccuracies reported by the TV station.
“There were false criminal allegations,” Lyon said. “They said that I was convicted of domestic violence, drunk driving, stalking – none of which are true. Another false thing was a use of force incident they said I was involved in, that I wasn’t. All of this stemmed from the pepper spray incident. That was what ultimately started everything. I identified it as forced exit strategies by that department and the political environment in that area.”
Regarding the pepper spray incident, Lyon said, “My department cleared me of any wrongdoing, so there was no discipline regarding that use of force.”
WLNS reported there were 11 sustained policy violations out of the 14 filed for Lyon. Lyon said that number is incorrect and that he had seven sustained policy violations during his 21 months with the East Lansing Police Department.
“Internal investigations are not necessarily a bad thing,” Lyon said. “They open them up against us anytime we have an external complaint from the public, which happens pretty frequently, and any internal complaint from a supervisor regarding policy. Their reason was to have more exonerations than sustainability.”
Lyon’s policy violations included failing to initially activate lights and sirens when passing through intersections, exceeding the speed limit and ignoring a direct command by posting a comment on social media in reference to the federal lawsuit.
“On one of the social media posts, he made a comment about being sued, but did not talk about the details,” Diaz said.
Lyon resigned from the East Lansing Police Department on April 3, 2026.
DIAZ ON HIRING
Diaz said when he hired Lyon he was aware of the allegations made in Michigan.
“He came in to get his VIN verification from one of our officers and that’s how he learned about Bradenton Beach,” Diaz said. “I told the officer to have him put in an application. He did and he met with me.”
Diaz requested Lyon’s background files from ELPD.
“He was very forthcoming in telling me everything. He’s very honest and he’s also very passionate about law enforcement,” Diaz said.
Diaz said he feels that the community policing aspect of Bradenton Beach is a better fit for Lyon than East Lansing. Home to Michigan State University, East Lansing is part of the greater Lansing metropolitan area that also serves as the state capital.
Diaz said during his 40 years in law enforcement he’s seen many instances where officers weren’t a good fit for an area or a police department.
“Even though that was his hometown, I don’t think that department was a fit for him,” Diaz said.
“Lt. Diaz informed me when I applied here that it’s all about hospitality and community policing in this area and that’s what really drew me to this,” Lyon said. “I worked in a big city. Here there’s a strong focus on getting to know the people we serve, which I really enjoy. I love having people get to know me and know my personality, and not just see a police officer doing their job.”
“In East Lansing we would go call-to-call, involved in a lot of different situations, so I really feel like the interactions with the public were just focusing on me handling immediate problems,” Lyon said. “Community members only saw me primarily in that role rather than being able to see me here out on Bridge Street, shaking hands, talking to people and having people get to know my personality. That’s what really drew me to Bradenton Beach, and I really enjoy it so far.”
Lyon was sworn in as a Bradenton Beach police officer on Sept. 17, and he’s currently undergoing field training. Diaz said Lyon is showing great initiative.
“By speaking with him and hearing his explanations of what happened and what was going on, I accepted it and I understood it,” Diaz said. “Being an investigator for many years, I understand where he’s coming from. I feel he just deserves a second chance.”
Lyon said he appreciates the second chance.
