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On April 29, four officers were killed trying to serve outstanding arrest warrants on a man in an East Charlotte neighborhood. The man, Terry Hughes Jr., was also killed, and five other officers were wounded.
Hughes fired on officers from a U.S. Marshals Task Force with an AR-15 rifle, leading to a 17-minute gun battle. He was eventually shot as he jumped out of a second-story window, holding the rifle and a handgun.
Amid the grief and trauma from that day, questions arose about how a routine arrest turned into a bloody gunfight. Even after Hughes was dead, officers continued to fire, believing there was a second shooter. Police denied there was friendly fire, but didn’t provide any details until after WSOC-TV aired an investigative report in late May.
The Assembly joined other news organizations, including The New York Times and The Charlotte Observer, in petitioning for the release of nearly 400 hours of body-camera footage.
Attorneys representing the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, various officers who survived that day, and the widows of two of the officers who died all vehemently opposed the release.
Michael Hewlett reports on the fight over footage and the details that have emerged so far.
After a Tragedy, A Fight Over Video Footage
After four law-enforcement officers were shot dead in Charlotte and questions persisted about what went wrong, media outlets sought body-camera footage. A judge turned them down, even as new details emerged about the case.
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Programming note: The Assembly is taking short summer publishing pause, but The Docket will be back on July 16.
Towing the Line
State Rep. Carson Smith, an Onslow County Republican, recently heard from a constituent whose truck had been towed, and it had cost him $3,500 to get it back.
The next day, Mecklenburg County Democrat Rep. Laura Budd approached him about a legislative proposal to curb predatory towing. Budd already had the makings of House Bill 1024, which would establish a new towing commission and lay out regulations for an industry that has largely gone unregulated in the state.
“Her timing was impeccable,” Smith told lawmakers at a June 12 Judiciary Committee meeting.
“I don’t like new laws,” Smith added. “I don’t like new commissions… But it’s kind of the Wild West out there.”
Lawmakers have heard plenty of complaints about towing companies removing vehicles from shopping center parking lots and other sites, often without clear signs specifying who can park there and what happens to violators. Some companies also tack on large credit card fees to encourage cash exchanges. Others note they don’t always even know where their vehicles were moved, and have reported sketchy encounters with towing companies.
“We are creating a regulatory framework for nonconsensual towing in North Carolina, where no framework has existed before,” said Budd.
The bill has been referred from the judiciary committee to House appropriations, since it has financial implications. It’s unclear whether there will be much momentum behind it, as Republican leaders in the state House and Senate are at odds over spending goals for the coming fiscal year. The towing legislation, though, has garnered bipartisan support.
One semi truck driver told Budd he had to pay $15,000 to a tower that charged separately for the truck and the trailer.
“Anybody that’s been anywhere remotely close to a college campus in the last 30 years has probably come across a boot or a tow truck, and in our cities across the board,” Rep. David Willis, a Union County Republican, told the House committee. “You know, you go out at night, and you just see multiple tow trucks, literally on the prowl.”
The bill would require towers to apply for and receive a license to work in this state. The legislation also would streamline and clarify signage requirements, with a standardized font and information about where you will be towed, the cost, and contact information.
It would also create a website to locate missing cars based on the license plate, VIN, or other identifying information and how much it would cost to get it back. A non-public-facing part of the database would give the General Assembly details about the overall operations of a tow company.
It also would create a towing commission appointed by the governor and General Assembly to set maximum rates based on the region, and allow people to register complaints.
— Anne Blythe
On Our Radar
Jason Harley Kloepfer woke up confused and disoriented on the morning of December 13, 2022. It was right before 5 a.m., still pitch black outside his camper trailer, and the front door had just swung open.
He saw a light and grabbed his gun. The intruder, he soon realized, was a robot. But outside his home, a large number of officers stood waiting.
“I heard them say they’re the police,” he said.
What happened next would upend Kloepfer’s life and lead to a federal civil suit and a state criminal investigation that question who decides consequences after a police shooting.
Holly Kays reports from Cherokee County.
Thin Blue Line
A police shooting in Cherokee County raises questions about who decides whether a legal boundary has been crossed.
Have any suggestions for improving this newsletter or stories we should look into? Email us at courts@theassemblync.com.
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