Video shows Charlotte Transportation Center security guards scuffling with man who died
The death of a man in uptown on Sunday came after security guards detained him at the Charlotte Transportation Center, according to interviews with people at the station and a video posted to Instagram.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police haven’t released much about the death, including the name of the man or what they think might have happened.
A police news release said that a man died in the 300 block of East Trade Street after an “altercation” involving “the subject, Strategic Security employees and other nearby civilians.”
The video, posted on the Instagram account of @charlittt_nc, shows employees of Strategic Security holding the man outside of the Burger King inside the transit center.
He is on the ground wearing a suit and tie, with no shoes, as security guards handcuff him.
Strategic Security Corp., which is based out of New York and Matthews, maintains an office inside the transportation center. Terrance Mardis, a client value manager and chief of the company’s Strategic Special Police Corp., referred questions about the incident to the company’s headquarters on Tuesday.
The company declined to comment.
In another video posted by the Instagram account @Baseboii_Tattoos, from a different angle, the man could be seen trying to open the doors to the Burger King, while a security guard blocked it with her foot. The man tapped the security guard on the arm and pushed her shoulder and she responded by smacking his arm repeatedly with a baton.
Another person, who appeared to be a bystander, grabbed the man by his collar and dragged him backwards, causing him to fall to the ground. The bystander put both hands around the man’s shoulders and appeared to try to get his attention before the man grabbed the bystander’s pants. Several people, including security guards, surrounded him. The bystander backed away while the man tried to hold onto one of the bystander’s pant legs before another bystander pulled his hand off.
The man on the ground then began to stand up while a security guard placed a hand on his back. After the man rose, he threw a punch at a person off camera. Another bystander tackled the man to the ground and held him down while the man struggled to try to stand back up. He began kicking his legs while another bystander stood over him. Security told people to back up.
For a couple of seconds, the man laid limp on the ground while the security guard with the baton stood over him. He tried to sit up again, slightly raising a fist and saying something that can’t be heard. A person in the background laughed at the man before he fell limp again at the end of that video.
The man was unconscious when CMPD officers arrived, according to police.
Several people at the transit center Tuesday said they were present for parts of the altercation and said they were upset by what they saw. Some said the security guards were too rough, while another said the man had been accosting people for a while at the center that day before security stepped in. The center has been tense since, one of them said.
Concerns about uptown safety
City Councilwoman Reneé Johnson asked police about the death during Monday night’s City Council meeting, where Deputy Police Chief Jacquelyn Bryley briefed officials on crime in uptown and other areas.
“We did get something — is there a way we can get an update on that?” Johnson asked the deputy chief.
“We can make sure we get something to you, in private,” Bryley replied.
“And not just for council,” Johnson said. “I did receive an inquiry from the public.”
CMPD held a press conference Tuesday about a safety initiative.
Lt. Kevin Pietrus said police vehicles would now display non-flashing, “steady” blue lights when driving around the city or parked. The initiative was tried in uptown, he said, and it reduced crime so police will do it citywide.
Unlike flashing blue lights and sirens, the steady lights indicate nothing is wrong, he said. They are meant to deter crime and increase police visibility, Pietrus said.
At the press conference, CMPD would not take questions from the press about anything other than their vehicle lighting initiative.
