A North Charlotte woman says she watched a stranger’s foot and head appear in her dining room while her husband hit him to try to get him out, and the whole ordeal unfolded with her young granddaughter upstairs in the house. Police say Joel Hernandez Velazquez tried to force his way into the home on Twin Brook Drive through a side window on Sunday, Oct. 11, triggering a frantic confrontation that ended with his arrest and an ICE request for an immigration hold.
A Terrifying Few Minutes on Twin Brook Drive
According to WSOC-TV, Ella Brewington described the moment the man appeared in her home, saying, “All I saw was the man’s foot and head in my dining room and my husband hitting him to try to get him out.” The Brewingtons have lived in their North Charlotte home for more than 13 years, the station reports, and they say they ultimately managed to prevent Hernandez Velazquez from getting all the way inside.
Ella told the outlet the experience was especially frightening because her granddaughter was in the house at the time, though the girl was upstairs on the second floor during the confrontation. Ella called police during the initial incident, the couple said, and the man tried to return to the house a few minutes later. Officers arrived shortly after, per the same account.
Arrest Made Next Door, Contractor Connection Alleged
Police arrested Hernandez Velazquez at a neighboring house where the couple said he had reportedly been working, a property they say sits just a few feet away from their own home on the same sidewalk. Ella told the station that a contractor had brought the man to the neighborhood to do work there. The report notes that Channel 9’s partners at Telemundo reached out to the alleged contractor for comment but had not received a response.
Court documents say Hernandez Velazquez faces charges of attempted trespassing and possession of drug paraphernalia, the station reports. Police said he had a crack pipe in his pocket at the time of his arrest and admitted to using drugs. His bond was set at $10,000, and immigration officials requested a hold on him, according to the same reporting.
Charlotte's Broader Crime Picture
CMPD later touted a 17% overall reduction in crime in its third-quarter public safety update, which described steady declines across several key crime categories. CMPD also maintains a quarterly crime statistics resource for residents tracking trends around the city.
This is not the only recent case of a Charlotte-area homeowner describing a confrontation with someone trying to get into their property. In a separate case reported by Hoodline, a North Charlotte homeowner said he fired on an intruder earlier this year while trying to protect his family, a case that was still under CMPD investigation at the time.
