Darrell Brooks, the Wisconsin man who was arrested and accused of driving an SUV into crowds at the Waukesha Christmas parade on Sunday, was charged Tuesday with five counts of first degree intentional homicide.
Brooks is accused of driving a maroon SUV directly through the parade as it proceeded down Main Street, striking people and a float, police said Sunday night.
Over 40 people were injured and five were killed.
In over a decade before the parade incident, Brooks had accrued an extensive criminal record, with arrests for sexual abuse, cannabis possession, battery and domestic abuse, according to records.
Brooks had posted $1,000 bail on Nov. 11 to secure his freedom less than a week after being charged with resisting or obstructing an officer, bail jumping, recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct and battery, which were connected to domestic abuse allegations.
Police said Sunday that they had been called to respond to a domestic disturbance involving a knife involving Brooks before being redirected to the parade route.
Brooks allegedly fled the domestic disturbance in the maroon SUV and then drove through the parade.
“Was there an initial complaint of a knife being involved? Yes,” Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson said Sunday. “Do we know if there actually was one there? We don’t know, because we didn’t even make it there. We ended up immediately responding to the crisis.“
On Monday prosecutors in Wisconsin admitted they had asked for an “inappropriately” low bail for Brooks on charges related to domestic abuse allegations.
Doorbell camera footage recorded less than a mile from the parade route obtained by NBC News on Tuesday shows the moments before Brooks, 39, was arrested.
In the Nov. 21 footage Brooks can be seen begging home resident Daniel Rider for help, saying that was waiting for an Uber, that he was homeless. After police arrived, Brooks was arrested.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
