Newly released bodycam footage shows prior arrest of man charged in Charlotte light rail stabbing

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has released body-worn camera footage that sheds light on how law enforcement handled the mental health crisis of a man who was later accused of fatally stabbing a 23-year-old Ukrainian woman on a Charlotte light rail train in August. 

Last month, North Carolina Superior Court Judge Timothy J. Rooks ruled the footage must be disclosed because it would advance a compelling public interest, siding with arguments made by attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Charlotte law firm Alexander Ricks PLLC on behalf of Julia Coin, a reporter at The Charlotte Observer.  

The footage depicts the January arrest of DeCarlos Brown Jr. on a charge of misusing 911. Brown’s many past interactions with law enforcement became the subject of national attention this year after he was arrested in the killing of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee. 

“We’re pleased that the court recognized the importance of disclosing these recordings, which help the public better understand law enforcement’s previous interactions with a man facing charges in a case of intense interest to the Charlotte community and beyond,” said Reporters Committee Senior Staff Attorney Beth Soja, who co-represented Coin in the case. “Police bodycam footage is an important tool for promoting transparency and accountability, but it can only serve those purposes when people are able to access it.”  

The Observer previously reported that Brown had a history of mental illness, including a schizophrenia diagnosis, and for years cycled in and out of North Carolina jails and courts before he was accused of stabbing Zarutska. He repeatedly called the police to ask them to investigate what he believed was a man-made substance that was controlling him. 

The newly released footage shows that a CMPD officer who responded to Brown’s call in January spent 20 minutes politely talking to Brown and encouraged him to take medicine, The Observer reported. Then, a sergeant arrived and shut down the conversation, according to the news outlet. 

The footage contradicts the sergeant’s account of the interaction, per The Observer. 

“The sergeant said he told Brown he would be arrested and charged if he called 911 for ‘nonsense’ again,” The Observer reported. “But the video showed the sergeant had not warned Brown of that; he only told fellow officers.”

The sergeant and his officers began to leave, and Brown again called 911 to talk to different police, according to The Observer. That’s when officers arrested him.  

Under North Carolina law, bodycam footage can only be released to the public under a court order. Along with Soja, attorneys Ben Leighton and Miller Capps from Alexander Ricks PLLC began representing Coin in early November. 

In a legal filing, the attorneys highlighted the intense national attention that Brown’s January arrest garnered after Zarutska’s death, including from President Donald Trump, who took to the White House’s official X account to question why Brown was granted cashless bail after the earlier arrest. 

“The footage [Coin] requests would help contextualize the violent video from the train and provide critical factual background to a highly charged and emotional national conversation,” Coin’s attorneys argued in a filing supporting her petition to release the footage.

In an order issued Nov. 19, Judge Rooks concluded that CMPD must disclose eight bodycam videos of the incident, subject to narrow redactions to hide unrelated footage and video that shows a computer login. He authorized CMPD to publicly release the footage upon turning it over to Coin. 

“We’re grateful to have partnered with co-counsel at Alexander Ricks in achieving this outcome for The Charlotte Observer and the public more broadly,” Soja said. “It’s been a pleasure to work with them to help grow the number of attorneys who can help journalists fight for transparency on behalf of the communities they serve.”