Three Ferguson police officers were patrolling the area

During the half hour before Michael Brown stole cigarillos from the Ferguson Market and Liquor store, three police officers assembled to handle an incident near the Park Ridge Apartment Complex's main entrance (Track 340), which was a short distance west from the Ferguson Market and Liquor store. The below image shows the short distance. 

Three police offers assembled for an incident in
Park Ridge Apartments during the half-hour
before Brown stole the cigarillos
inside the Ferguson Market.

The three police officers' call signs were:

Frank 21 = Police Officer Darren Wilson 

Frank 22 = a police officer whom I will call Policeman Highmont 

Frank 25 = the police officer whom I have been calling Policeman McDonald

Wilson left Park Ridge at about 11:47 -- about five minutes before Brown stole the cigarillos -- in response to a dispatcher call to help a sick child. On his way to that destination, he drove east on Canfield Drive.

The second police officer to leave Park Ridge was Policeman McDonald. The Event Report (Page 15) recorded that he accepted the stealing-in-progress dispatch request at 11:53:54 and arrived at the Market at 11:54:51 a.m. -- an interval of only 57 seconds.

The Event Report listed the times for
Open = 11:51:57
Dispatch = 11:53:54
Enroute = 11:53:54
Arrival 11:54:51

Policeman McDonald's drive was only about one-tenth of a mile. 

Policeman McDonald drove from the Parkridge Apartment Complex's main gate
to the Ferguson Market and Liquor store's parking lot.

The conversation between the dispatcher and Policeman McDonald was recorded as follows:

Track 349 = Policeman in Park Ridge.
Track 350 = Policeman at Market.
Track 351, 352, 353 = Policeman on West Florissant Avenue
Track 354 = Policeman thinks suspect maybe went to McDonald's

UI = Unintelligible

(Each of these tracks had a specific time, but those times were not provided to the public. A few of the the track times were mentioned during the testimony to the grand jury. The clock for these tracks was many minutes different from the main dispatch clock, so a decision was made to delete the tracks' times, in order to minimize confusion. If the clocks had been synchronized and if each track's exact time had been specified, then this analysis would be much easier.)  

Policeman McDonald left Park Ridge at 11:53:54 in response to a dispatcher call about the Market robbery. He drove to the Market and then drove north on West Florissant Avenue, where he did not see anybody wearing a white t-shirt and walking north. Then he circled around the back of the McDonald's restaurant and returned to the Market to ask for more details about the culprit. 

Policeman McDonald's movements after he left Park Ridge Apartments

Then Policeman McDonald drove north to the QuikTrip store, north of Canfield Drive.

Policeman Highmont was still in Park Ridge when Policeman McDonald
began looking for Brown and Johnson on West Florissant Avenue.
Policeman McDonald ended his search in the QuikTrip.
Policeman Highmont was approaching Highmont Drive
when he heard Wilson's call for help. 

Policeman Highmont remained in Park Ridge but he listened to the radio conversations between Policeman McDonald and the dispatcher about the search for the black male in the white T-shirt walking north. The dispatch messages indicate the following sequence of events. 

* Policeman Highmont radioed that he had finished his tasks at Park Ridge and so would help Policeman McDonald look for the robbery suspect (Track 355). 

* Policeman McDonald radioed back to him with the new details that the suspect was wearing a red Cardinals cap, a white t-shirt, yellow socks and khaki shorts and was walking with another male up West Florissant Avenue (Track 358). This report must have occurred after 11:57:47.

* Policeman Highmont confirmed that he had finished in Park Ridge and now would join Policeman McDonald in the search for the suspects (Tracks 360 and 361). 

* Wilson radioed to the dispatcher that he had finished his assignment to the sick child (Track 364). This message occurred at 12:00:00, according to the Event Report (page 14).

* Wilson radioed to both Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont asking whether they needed him to help in their search (Track 366).

* Policeman McDonald radioed back that the suspect had "disappeared into the woodwork" (Track 367). I think that this communication occurred immediately after Policeman McDonald had gone into the QuikTrip and not found the two suspects there. In other words, Policeman McDonald was declaring that he was ending his search. 

* Having heard that Policeman McDonald was ending his search, Policeman Highmont radioed that he now would drive to Victoria Plaza to deal with a different problem (Track 368) -- an illegally parked car.

For further explanations of these tracks, see the dispatcher's testimony to the grand jury, beginning on page 123.)

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A couple hours after the incident, a detective interviewed Policeman Highmont. The Investigative Report summarized that interview as follows. 

At approximately 1:45 pm, Detective [Name] made contact with PO [Highmont], who was still at the scene. PO [Highmont] was dressed in full department uniform and was operating marked police vehicle for his shift on August 9, 2014. PO [Highmont] was scheduled to work the day shift from 6:30 am. to 6:30 pm. ...

PO [Highmont] said prior to this incident, he had been directed by dispatch to an illegally parked vehicle. P0 [Highmont] was traveling north on West Florissant Avenue approaching Highmont Drive when he heard a radio transmission from PO Darren Wilson to the dispatcher. PO [Highmont] recalled PO Darren Wilson's transmission was something to the effect of, "Frank 21, I'm on Canfield with two, send me another car."

PO [Highmont] said PO Darren Wilson's voice was composed but sounded concerned. PO [Highmont] said he worked closely with PO Darren Wilson, and he could tell by the sound of his voice that something was wrong.

PO [Highmont] activated his emergency lights and turned his patrol vehicle around in order to travel south on West Florissant Avenue toward Canfield Drive. After reaching Canfield Drive, PO. turned left, traveling east on Canfield Drive. PO [Highmont] said he arrived in the area at the same time* as PO [McDonald].

PO [Highmont] said after arriving at the scene, he observed PO Darren Wilson's marked Ferguson patrol vehicle stopped in the roadway facing west. PO [Highmont] stopped his vehicle along the south curb of the roadway and exited his vehicle. PO [Highmont] said as he exited his vehicle, he observed PO Darren Wilson standing in the roadway approximately 30 feet east of him. PO Darren Wilson had his duty weapon in his hand and was pointing it toward the ground. On the ground in front of PO Darren Wilson was an individual who was later identified as Michael Brown. ....

[Pages 10 - 11]

* According to Camera 11 at Shopping Center Services (SCS) at the corner of West Florissant Avenue and of Canfield Drive, Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont arrived on Canfield Drive only five seconds apart. See the Investigative Report, page 168, Timestamps 12:20:07 and 12:20:02 (the SCS clock was 18 minutes ahead of the police dispatch clock).