Man clung to car before driver hit a parked vehicle, killing him, police say

A 21-year-old man died early Saturday after he clung to the side of a car whose occupants he’d argued with before the driver then smashed into a parked vehicle, police said.

Desmond Stevens was found unresponsive in the 9500 block of Trinity Road in north Charlotte at about 1:30 a.m., according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release. He was declared dead at the scene.

Police later arrested two York, S.C., brothers in connection with his death.

The driver of the car, 21-year-old Scott Edward McMannes, and his brother, 17-year-old Zachary Aaron McMannes, are accused of conducting a drug transaction when they began arguing and fighting with Stevens, police said.

When Scott McMannes started driving away, Stevens held onto the side of the Honda Accord until McMannes crashed into a parked Kia, according to the CMPD release.

“The Honda did not stop after the crash and continued traveling for several hundred feet before being forced to stop due to damage sustained in the crash,” police said in the release. Scott McMannes then ran from the scene, followed by his brother.

People in the Kia tried to stop the brothers but were unsuccessful, according to the release. No one in either car was hurt, police said.

The McMannes brothers and their father later agreed to drive to police headquarters to be interviewed, police said.

Scott McMannes was then arrested and charged with felony hit and run, misdemeanor hit and run and possessing counterfeit U.S. currency.

His brother was arrested and charged with felony hit and run and misdemeanor hit and run.

Witnesses are asked to call CMPD Detective Steve Williams at 704-432-2169 or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

This story was originally published May 4, 2019 at 1:28 PM.