Outrage After Video Shows Vagrant Stabbing Ukrainian Refugee on Light Rail | Crime Alert 6AM 09.10.25

North Carolina’s governor reacts with outrage after video shows a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee being stabbed to death on a Charlotte light rail train. A Charlotte police officer who took his own life while on duty is now confirmed to be the first known law enforcement officer diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E. Breaking Bad actor Raymond Cruz arrested and accused of spraying a nosy stranger with a hose. Drew Nelson reports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert hourly update, Breaking crime news Now. I'm Drew Nelson.
North Carolina's governor reacts with outrage after video shows a
twenty three year old Ukrainian refugee being stabbed to death
on a Charlotte light rail train. Arena Zarutzka was killed
in an unprovoked attack on August twenty second. She just
boarded the Lynx Blue line about ten pm, still wearing

(00:21):
her uniform from work. She was sitting alone looking at
her phone, and a man in a red hoodie sat
behind her. After four minutes, he stood up, pulled a
folded knife from his pocket, and stabbed her three times
in the throat. She collapsed and died on the train
as passengers tried to help. Governor Josh Stein says, quote
I am appalled by the footage of her murder. We

(00:42):
need more cops on the beat to keep people safe.
He urged lawmakers to pass his plan to fill law
enforcement vacancies and quote stop these horrific crimes. Police arrested
thirty four year old to Carlos Brown Junior days later.
He's charged with first degree murder. Brown has a long
criminal history armed robbery, breaking, up, entering, filliny, larceny. He
was released earlier this year after claiming someone had implanted

(01:05):
a device in his body. A court ordered a mental
health evaluation that was never completed. Officials say Zarutzka and
Brown never even spoke to each other. Zarutzka fled Kiev
in twenty twenty two with her mother, sister, and brother.
She worked at Zipiti's pizzeria, studied to be a veterinary assistant,
and walked her neighbor's dogs. Her obituary described her as

(01:26):
a gifted artist who was quote happiest when surrounded by family.
Her death has become a flashpoint, with President Trump calling
Brown a lunatic and blaming Democrats for letting violent criminals
walk free. Charlotte's Mayer called it a quote tragic failure
by the courts. A US attorney said federal charges are
under review. Quote we are looking at every way the

(01:46):
federal government can bring justice to Arena Zerutzka and her
loved ones. More crime man justice news After this, a Charlotte,
North Carolina police officer who took his own life while
on duty is now confirmed to be the first known
law enforcement officer diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE.

(02:12):
That's according to The New York Times. Brent Simpson died
by suicide in July of last year, at the age
of forty seven. He left for work that morning, kissed
his wife, Gina Elliott, and said he loved her. Two
hours later, his boss and other officers showed up at
her door. They told her Simpson had shot himself at
a cemetery. In the final years of his life, Simpson

(02:32):
often told Elliot quote, something is wrong with my brain.
She kept notes. As he began to lose his memory
and drift from the life that he had built for himself,
he stopped his beloved hobby of woodworking. He no longer
trained for his jiu jitsu black belt. He started crying
without warning. He felt a constant pressure behind his right eye.

(02:53):
He told her he could not feel joy. Simpson joined
the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department in two thousand and six.
By twenty eleven, he was training recruits and hand to
hand combat at the academy. He wore padded gear during
the physical combat training, but often returned home bruised and dazed.
He later achieved his dream of becoming a canine officer. Still,

(03:14):
by twenty twenty, Elliot noticed a sharp change. He talked
about retiring early. He seemed distant. One day, when asked
to speak at a funeral, he told her quote, I
don't know whether what I'm remembering is real or imagined.
In twenty twenty three, he entered a mental health rehab
program for first responders and was diagnosed with PTSD. Nothing helped.

(03:35):
He slept no more than three hours a night. He
grew paranoid and kept prepper supplies in the house. After workshifts,
he would sometimes sit and stare blankly at the wall.
In early twenty twenty four, he tried ketamine therapy and antidepressants.
Doctors ran MRIs blood tests and other neurological exams, but
got no clear answer. Elliot says she felt him slipping

(03:58):
further away. After his death, Simpson's brain was donated to
Boston University's CTE Center. Doctor n McKee, who studied his brain,
found lesions in the frontal and temporal lobes, signs of
early stage ct She told The Times quote, people in
these early stages of CTE can have fairly profound behavioral

(04:18):
changes and sometimes personality changes. She noted that Simpson's years
of police training, Navy service, and even high school football
all raised his risk. Psychotherapist Stephanie Samuels, who works with
law enforcement, told The Times many of her patients show
similar symptoms rage, memory lapses, paranoia. She believes CTE has

(04:40):
long been overlooked in police suicide cases. Gina Elliott now
knows what her husband could not. Quote, my sweet baby
had to die thinking he was going insane. More than
a year has passed, but she still hasn't washed his clothes.
Sometimes she drives his truck and reaches across the seat,
pretending he's there to hold her hand. Quote. I lost
him twice. He was gone years before he was physically gone.

(05:03):
The Department has not commented publicly on the CTE diagnosis.
If you watched Breaking Bad, you know Tuco Salamanca as
one of the most unhinged bad guys ever written. The
actor who played him, Raymond Cruz, doesn't have nearly that
big of an attitude, But on Monday, he was arrested
after a dispute outside his home ended with a woman
getting sprayed with a hose. Cruise Age sixty was taken

(05:27):
into custody in Los Angeles. He was arrested on suspicion
of misdemeanor battery. He was booked and released later that
day on his own recognisance. No charges have been filed.
Cruse's agent Rafael Burko says the actor was washing his
car when three women parked a white minivan very close
to his bumper. Cruise asked them to move. Burko says
they refused and began filming him. He says Cruise asked

(05:49):
them to stop while still spraying the car. Some water
hit their vehicle, and he goes on to say, quote,
believe it or not, one of them called the police.
Raymond is happy this is done with. Has no criminal
history whatsoever. He has no idea who these women are
or why they were harassing him in front of his
own home while he was trying to wash a car.
Our partners at TMZ first reported the arrest. The case

(06:12):
will be reviewed by the La City Attorney, who may
choose to hold an informal hearing or refer Cruise to
anger management. Outside of Breaking Bad, Raymond Cruz is best
known for playing Detective Julio Sanchez on The Closer and
Major Crimes, a role that he held for over a decade.
He also appeared in films like Training Day, Alien Resurrection,
and The Substitute, often portraying military or law enforcement. For

(06:35):
the latest crime and justice news, follow Crime Alert hourly
update on your favorite podcast app with this crime Alert.
I'm Drew Nelson.