Man Arrested After Surveillance Video Shows Someone Torching A Man’s Corvette And His Pride Flag At West Charlotte Home
An arrest has been made after a Corvette was set on fire in the owner’s driveway in West Charlotte on Wednesday.
Jackson Brooks, 21, has been charged with Burning Personal Property following the incident.
Jackson Brooks
WCCB Charlotte’s Alexandra Elich asked the owner of the Corvette, Seth Headley, if he knew Brooks or why he would do this.
“I personally did not at all. Me or my partner. He went on a date with my roommate he dropped her off here at our home. I never seen this man I have never talked to him. Or looked at him. I said no words.”
He went on to say, “Me and my partner are thinking about moving. After 5 years of being in this house. That’s how real we feel we were targeted. If my roommate can’t go on dates and get dropped off or picked up without my pride flag being burned and my cars be torched. This time this car being a collectible. It’s time to go. This has really shaken us up. I didn’t sleep last night.”
CHARLOTTE, NC.– Surveillance video shows someone torching a man’s Corvette in the driveway of his West Charlotte home. He thinks he may have been targeted — and that this may be a hate crime.
Police are trying to track down the man responsible. Hours later you could still smell the gasoline from the charred car. The owner got emotional as he told WCCB what happened. He says he does not feel comfortable in his own home.
27-year-old Seth Headley and his roommates sprinted out of their house early Wednesday and saw flames shooting up from Headley’s Corvette.
“I was very dizzy for a moment, I didn’t understand why. I was racking through my mind how in the world can this happen,” says West Charlotte resident Seth Headley.
Surveillance cameras outside the home caught the whole thing on video. First, you see a man in a white pick up truck, drive back and forth. He gets out, walks up to the Corvette, then you see flames.
The man walked around an RV in the driveway, then to the front of his house, where it appears he tried to set a Pride flag on fire.
“Could I have been targeted, yes. I honestly don’t know. What I do know is behind me is what’s left of my vehicle,” says Headley.
Executive Director of Equality North Carolina Matt Hirschy says crimes against the LGBTQ community happen more than you hear about.
“This stuff happens all the time and frankly, frequently it goes unreported or under-reported,” says Hirschy.
He says part of the reason is because the state hate crimes statute does not cover sexual orientation or gender identity.
