September 8, 2025 • 6 mins
Mark Garrison takes a ride on Charlotte's light rail to get a first-hand look at the daily issues for light rail passengers amid the tragic murder of Iryna Zarutska.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is good Morning BET.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
News Talk eleven ten nine to nine three WBT, Monday
September eighth, Bo Thompson, Beth Troutman here in the Tyboid studio,
joined by WBT News director Mark Garrison. And as we
look across the screens, the national media is very much
taking note of what we know. Here happened a few
weeks ago on the light rail ten pm Friday night
(00:26):
at the August twenty second. This is when Arena Zarutzka
was brutally stabbed by another writer on the light rail.
Mark Garrison spent the day yesterday afternoon on that light
rail to Carlos Brown, the killer, and the video is
out now. It shows him stand up behind her and
stab her in the neck. It's very difficult to watch.
(00:49):
He was homeless and he was riding without a ticket.
It has raised a lot of security questions about light rail.
The mayor over the weekend said she had been quote
thinking about what safety looks like, but she offered no answers. Well,
regular light rail riders I talked to say it doesn't
take much thinking to know what will make the train safer.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Any more security on here and as I rode light
rail for several hours Sunday afternoon, there was a little
more security than normal train approaching. I got onto the
train and noda and immediately saw two women and yellow
security vests on board. They were ticket checkers and they
checked mine.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I just had the ticket off, please sure, thank you
so much.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Then at the next stop, this top is Seventh Street station,
the young ticket checkers stood in the doorway asking everyone
entering for a ticket check, ticket off please. One homeless
guy with a lot of stuff walked up, but when
he saw the woman at the door, he turned away.
But I noticed the ticket checkers weren't on here. Very long,
doors are closing, train is about to move. Both of
(01:56):
the ticket checkers got off. The train is off and
running with no security on it. The next will be
Third Street and it stayed that way clear to the
end of the line in Pineville, no security, no ticket checks,
which opened the door for a homeless guy named Reginald,
who asked me for money. Damn two dollars, I think
(02:20):
I do, if you'll talk to me. Reginald was drinking,
had a beer in a brown paper bag. That's a
violation of train policy, and he had no ticket. Has
anybody checked your ticket today, that's today, but yesterday and
you had one?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Well no, not really.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Did they put you off the train? Yeah? But on
Sunday finding a train with no security was no problem
with so many homeless guys like Reginald on light rail,
a lot of regulars like Carlos, a passenger I met,
told me they always ride with a little bit of fear.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
So anytime somebody sits next to me on the links,
I just literally get up and sent another seat away
from them, just because I don't know what their intentions are.
They're drugged up, drunk or something approaching.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Once we arrived at the Pineville station, two security guards boarded.
One was armed, the other was not. The armed officers
stood in the doorway at several stops asking for tickets.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
You love your ticket ready for the train.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Once we were rolling, he found a guy on board
who said, I got no ticket.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Ticket, I'm gonna doctor the next time you can get
off there much so.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
At the next stop, the ticketless guy got off.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Doors are closing. Train is about to move.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Then a few stops later, so did the two security guards. So,
as Cats has said, security is hit and miss. You'll
see it sometimes, but certainly not all the time, which
is what homeless guys such as Reginald are counting on
as he rides light rail for free. So why are
you riding the train without a ticket? Well, they go
(03:52):
donate some plasmas and get some money. And as we
approached his stop, Reginald addressed the other riders with a
smile Radio station. Guy's gonna let me hold ten dollars
so I can get.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Some of the.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I did give
him a few bucks, had encouraged him to buy something
to eat, and not any more beer. You know, some
of the homeless characters are a bit sympathetic, but you
have to remember de Carlos Brown was a homeless guy
with no ticket. He looked harmless when he got on
the train, and then minutes later he killed Irena Zarutzka.
Cats would like to have more than two hundred security people.
(04:32):
They're about thirty five short of that goal. It would
be a mix of guys who were unarmed, some who
do have guns, and some who were sworn law enforcement
in the state who could make an arrest. But so far,
no plans to put security on every train or to
check every ticket.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
So mark as you were riding. Did you feel like
you needed to keep your head on a swivel? Were
you did you have your guard up the entire time?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I really did, you know. I mean, they say you
can't judge a book by the cover, but you see
people sit down and think they look a little sketchy.
And the guy I interviewed said he moves around a
lot when people get in and sit beside him. Yeah,
every time I've ridden light Reel, I've kind of had
my head on a swivel.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Well, and they say you've got instinct, you know, to
listen to your gut instinct that your body does respond,
you know, to a certain kind of feeling, and that
you should should pay attention to it if you feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Well, and it was interesting how they were on again,
off again. You know, they're there checking tickets and then
they disappear and they get off the train. So they
were it seemed as though they were concentrating on the
area around Pineville and some of the southern stops south
of the city, but it was a little hard to
know for sure. But again, seventy five percent of the ride,
(05:44):
no security, no ticket checks.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And now, as I said, this is getting more and
more national attention. President Trump, before he boarded Air Force
one to go see the US Open tennis final yesterday,
was asked by reporters what he knew or if he
knew about the arena Zurutzka's story. He did not, but
said he'd be briefed and would be saying something about
it today. So we'll be watching for that or listening
(06:07):
for that. We will talk following up on this with
governor former governor Pat McCrory, who has released several videos
of his own responding to what's happened, dating back to
August twenty second, Mark, thank you so much for the report.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah,
This is good Morning BET.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
News Talk eleven ten nine to nine three WBT, Monday
September eighth, Bo Thompson, Beth Troutman here in the Tyboid studio,
joined by WBT News director Mark Garrison. And as we
look across the screens, the national media is very much
taking note of what we know. Here happened a few
weeks ago on the light rail ten pm Friday night
(00:26):
at the August twenty second. This is when Arena Zarutzka
was brutally stabbed by another writer on the light rail.
Mark Garrison spent the day yesterday afternoon on that light
rail to Carlos Brown, the killer, and the video is
out now. It shows him stand up behind her and
stab her in the neck. It's very difficult to watch.
(00:49):
He was homeless and he was riding without a ticket.
It has raised a lot of security questions about light rail.
The mayor over the weekend said she had been quote
thinking about what safety looks like, but she offered no answers. Well,
regular light rail riders I talked to say it doesn't
take much thinking to know what will make the train safer.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Any more security on here and as I rode light
rail for several hours Sunday afternoon, there was a little
more security than normal train approaching. I got onto the
train and noda and immediately saw two women and yellow
security vests on board. They were ticket checkers and they
checked mine.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I just had the ticket off, please sure, thank you
so much.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Then at the next stop, this top is Seventh Street station,
the young ticket checkers stood in the doorway asking everyone
entering for a ticket check, ticket off please. One homeless
guy with a lot of stuff walked up, but when
he saw the woman at the door, he turned away.
But I noticed the ticket checkers weren't on here. Very long,
doors are closing, train is about to move. Both of
(01:56):
the ticket checkers got off. The train is off and
running with no security on it. The next will be
Third Street and it stayed that way clear to the
end of the line in Pineville, no security, no ticket checks,
which opened the door for a homeless guy named Reginald,
who asked me for money. Damn two dollars, I think
(02:20):
I do, if you'll talk to me. Reginald was drinking,
had a beer in a brown paper bag. That's a
violation of train policy, and he had no ticket. Has
anybody checked your ticket today, that's today, but yesterday and
you had one?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Well no, not really.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Did they put you off the train? Yeah? But on
Sunday finding a train with no security was no problem
with so many homeless guys like Reginald on light rail,
a lot of regulars like Carlos, a passenger I met,
told me they always ride with a little bit of fear.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
So anytime somebody sits next to me on the links,
I just literally get up and sent another seat away
from them, just because I don't know what their intentions are.
They're drugged up, drunk or something approaching.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Once we arrived at the Pineville station, two security guards boarded.
One was armed, the other was not. The armed officers
stood in the doorway at several stops asking for tickets.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
You love your ticket ready for the train.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Once we were rolling, he found a guy on board
who said, I got no ticket.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Ticket, I'm gonna doctor the next time you can get
off there much so.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
At the next stop, the ticketless guy got off.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Doors are closing. Train is about to move.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Then a few stops later, so did the two security guards. So,
as Cats has said, security is hit and miss. You'll
see it sometimes, but certainly not all the time, which
is what homeless guys such as Reginald are counting on
as he rides light rail for free. So why are
you riding the train without a ticket? Well, they go
(03:52):
donate some plasmas and get some money. And as we
approached his stop, Reginald addressed the other riders with a
smile Radio station. Guy's gonna let me hold ten dollars
so I can get.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Some of the.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I did give
him a few bucks, had encouraged him to buy something
to eat, and not any more beer. You know, some
of the homeless characters are a bit sympathetic, but you
have to remember de Carlos Brown was a homeless guy
with no ticket. He looked harmless when he got on
the train, and then minutes later he killed Irena Zarutzka.
Cats would like to have more than two hundred security people.
(04:32):
They're about thirty five short of that goal. It would
be a mix of guys who were unarmed, some who
do have guns, and some who were sworn law enforcement
in the state who could make an arrest. But so far,
no plans to put security on every train or to
check every ticket.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
So mark as you were riding. Did you feel like
you needed to keep your head on a swivel? Were
you did you have your guard up the entire time?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I really did, you know. I mean, they say you
can't judge a book by the cover, but you see
people sit down and think they look a little sketchy.
And the guy I interviewed said he moves around a
lot when people get in and sit beside him. Yeah,
every time I've ridden light Reel, I've kind of had
my head on a swivel.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Well, and they say you've got instinct, you know, to
listen to your gut instinct that your body does respond,
you know, to a certain kind of feeling, and that
you should should pay attention to it if you feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Well, and it was interesting how they were on again,
off again. You know, they're there checking tickets and then
they disappear and they get off the train. So they
were it seemed as though they were concentrating on the
area around Pineville and some of the southern stops south
of the city, but it was a little hard to
know for sure. But again, seventy five percent of the ride,
(05:44):
no security, no ticket checks.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And now, as I said, this is getting more and
more national attention. President Trump, before he boarded Air Force
one to go see the US Open tennis final yesterday,
was asked by reporters what he knew or if he
knew about the arena Zurutzka's story. He did not, but
said he'd be briefed and would be saying something about
it today. So we'll be watching for that or listening
(06:07):
for that. We will talk following up on this with
governor former governor Pat McCrory, who has released several videos
of his own responding to what's happened, dating back to
August twenty second, Mark, thank you so much for the report.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah,
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