Watch: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police release body camera footage of controversial arrest

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police on Tuesday released body camera video of a Steele Creek arrest that went viral and brought new scrutiny on the department. Viral video captured by a bystander showed police officer Vincent Pistone repeatedly hitting Christina Pierre in November as onlookers shouted for him to stop. Police body camera footage showed the interaction leading to the viral incident. Police said as the viral video began circulating that Pierre and her partner and coworker Anthony Lee were smoking marijuana at a bus stop, that Pierre “punched” an officer in the face and that they found a gun in Lee’s bag. Both resisted arrest, police said. Pistone dealt out “compliance strikes,” according to CMPD. The department’s directives allow for that. Whatever the circumstances, some community leaders took issue with what they saw. 05:31 09:08 Critical Incident Briefing- Steele Creek Arrest- Lee/Pierre- November 13, 2023 Charlotte-Mecklenburg police followed a court order Tuesday and released body camera footage from a controversial arrest last month. BY CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT “My fear was that she was going to die there,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP President Corine Mack said. TOP VIDEOS Top Videos 00:09 00:45 Charlotte City Council chanted out of chamber overIsrael-Hamas war Police Chief Johnny Jennings acknowledged at a Nov. 15 press conference that the video was not easy to watch. Still, body camera footage would tell a more complete story than the viral video, he said. The footage — spread out over more than 30 videos — includes two officers first approaching Pierre and Lee. “You smoking weed?” one officer asks the two as they are sitting on a bench. “You guys smoking weed?” Pierre and Lee responded that they bought it at a smoke shop. CMPD’s briefing video shows a burned joint collected as evidence. Pierre’s attorney, Lauren Newton, told WFAE the two were smoking a legally purchased THC-A cigarette and that police should not have bothered them. THC-A, sold widely at area smoke stores, converts to Delta 9 THC — the intoxicating ingredient in marijuana — when burned. The situation escalates from there. Other videos show backup arriving, an officer striking Pierre while she is on the ground and witnesses giving statements, among other things. The videos are on CMPD’s YouTube page. WHY CMPD RELEASED THE VIDEO North Carolina law requires that a judge approve the release of body cam footage. Police filed a petition for that release, and Superior Court Judge Daniel Kuehnert gave the green light on Nov. 30. “The public has a right to see it,” the judge said. The Charlotte Observer asked CMPD multiple times for the name of another officer who reportedly returned a strike to Pierre’s face. At a Dec. 1 press conference, the public affairs team’s Lt. Kevin Pietrus made clear that CMPD would not provide it. Pistone was “the centerpiece” of the viral video, and Jennings decided to release his name because of that, Pietrus said. “But really, that centerpiece stopped there,” Pietrus said. “For that reason, that’s the only name that we’re going to release.” The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office dismissed Pierre’s and Lee’s charges late last month. “After consideration of the body-worn camera evidence and the various recorded accounts of police and civilian witnesses present, based on the totality of the circumstances, the State does not have a reasonable likelihood of success at any potential trial on this matter,” prosecutor Sheena Gatehouse wrote in Pierre’s dismissal paperwork. This story was originally published December 12, 2023, 9:31 AM.

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