Search fatalities

Brittany Webb

Age : 31

Gender : Female

Race : Black

Date : 08/31/2022

Location : West Sugar Creek Road and Reagan Drive

City : Charlotte

County : Mecklenburg

State : North Carolina

Agency : Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

Officer(s) :Adam Earl; Matthew-Ryan Lerlo

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 01/03/2022, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officers Adam Earl and Matthew-Ryan Lerlo pursued a Jeep through north Charlotte during evening rush-hour traffic after initially focusing on the vehicle because its license plate was covered by a tinted or opaque cover. The Jeep eventually traveled the wrong way on Statesville Road and crashed head-on into a Honda carrying 29-year-old Brittany C. Webb and two other people. Webb suffered catastrophic injuries and died 18 days later, on 01/21/2022. Her family and the two survivors later sued Earl, Lerlo and the City of Charlotte, alleging that the officers conducted an unauthorized pursuit in direct violation of CMPD policy.
The case has changed substantially since the initial reporting. A 2024 lawsuit, followed by the 2025 public release of approximately five hours of body-camera and traffic-camera footage, provided evidence that challenged the characterization of the incident as simply a crash caused by a driver fleeing police. The recordings documented Earl and Lerlo's actions during the pursuit and captured other CMPD personnel questioning and criticizing their decision to chase.
According to the lawsuit, Earl and Lerlo had been following the Jeep through the Sugar Creek area before it entered Interstate 85. The officers ran the license plate and focused on an allegedly obscuring plate cover. The complaint alleges that there was no violent offense or other life-threatening crime that would have authorized a pursuit under CMPD's restrictive pursuit policy.
Earl and Lerlo attempted to stop the Jeep on I-85. When the driver continued driving away, the officers followed with emergency lights and sirens activated. Their in-car computer system repeatedly generated warnings telling them to watch their speed and slow down.
Police radio traffic is particularly significant. The later-released recordings indicate that a supervisor communicated that officers did not need to engage in a pursuit. According to the family's lawsuit and subsequent reporting, the officers nevertheless continued following the Jeep off I-85 and into residential streets.
The Jeep eventually reached a dead end on Julia Avenue and stopped. Earl and Lerlo got out of their police vehicle with their guns drawn. The Jeep then maneuvered away from them and drove back toward Statesville Road. The officers continued after it.
The family's attorney argues that this was the critical point at which police turned an alleged license-plate violation into a dangerous rush-hour pursuit. The lawsuit alleges that the officers knew or should have known CMPD policy did not permit a high-speed pursuit under these circumstances and that their continued pursuit created an unreasonable danger to motorists who had nothing to do with the attempted traffic stop.
As the pursuit reached Statesville Road, the Jeep traveled the wrong direction and collided head-on with the Honda in which Webb was a passenger. The impact severely injured all three people in the Honda.
Webb was unresponsive at the crash scene and suffered massive trauma, including a subdural hematoma with mass effect, rib and spinal fractures, a grade-four liver laceration, pelvic fractures and fractures to her arms and legs. Her condition was further complicated by strokes while she was hospitalized. She never recovered and died on 01/21/2022.
The other two people in the Honda survived but suffered serious injuries. Aaron Norward was placed in a medically induced coma and remained hospitalized for approximately a month. Whitney McKinney, who was driving the Honda, suffered extensive injuries and experienced a stroke the day after the collision. Both later joined Webb's estate in suing the officers and city.
Webb was a mother of two. Her family's later lawsuit emphasized that she had no connection whatsoever to the police encounter or the vehicle police were pursuing. She was simply a passenger traveling on Statesville Road when the pursuit entered her path.
On 01/17/2024, Webb's estate, represented by administrator Carol Willis, together with Norward and McKinney, filed suit in Mecklenburg County Superior Court against the City of Charlotte, Earl and Lerlo. The complaint alleges wrongful death, negligence and gross negligence and specifically characterizes the officers' actions as an unauthorized police chase.
The lawsuit quotes CMPD's own pursuit rules. Those rules permitted pursuits under limited circumstances involving crimes dangerous to life or specified serious offenses. The plaintiffs contend that an allegedly obscured license plate did not remotely satisfy those requirements.
The case became considerably stronger factually after video from the incident was released in June 2025. CMPD published 44 recordings from officer body cameras and nearby traffic cameras, amounting to roughly five hours of footage. The Charlotte Observer reviewed those recordings and found material that was not reflected in the department's initial public presentation of the crash.
One particularly revealing recording captured another CMPD officer arriving at the crash and reacting to what Earl and Lerlo had done. The officer called their actions "dumb" and referred to the Internal Affairs statements they would have to prepare. Another recording captured a supervisor questioning why the pursuit had occurred.
The recordings also provided direct evidence that Earl and Lerlo had actively attempted to stop the Jeep with emergency lights and sirens and followed it through multiple stages of the encounter, evidence relevant to the family's contention that this was a police pursuit rather than merely officers happening to travel behind the vehicle.
The lawsuit further alleges that CMPD internally disciplined both officers. The complaint states that Earl and Lerlo were suspended over their conduct in connection with the pursuit and related events.
The civil case remains active. Most recently, in July 2026, the City of Charlotte asked the court to dismiss or substantially restrict the claims before trial. Evidence discussed at the hearing included the officers' own statements, police radio traffic and the video recordings. The judge declined to immediately dispose of the case and allowed additional briefing, leaving Webb's family's claims alive.
The later evidence therefore materially changes the original framing of Webb's death. What began as an attempted police stop over an allegedly obscured license plate developed into a pursuit through rush-hour traffic; police recordings indicate supervisory concern about the chase; Earl and Lerlo continued after the Jeep through residential streets; the Jeep subsequently entered Statesville Road in the wrong direction and crashed head-on into the car carrying Webb. CMPD's own officers were recorded questioning the pursuit afterward, the department reportedly suspended Earl and Lerlo, and Webb's family is continuing to seek civil accountability from both officers and the city.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Adam Earl was a CMPD officer assigned to the encounter and pursuit that preceded Webb's fatal crash. Public City of Charlotte employment records show Earl working for the city beginning by 2020 and continuing through at least 2024. Webb's lawsuit alleges that CMPD suspended Earl following the pursuit. The later body-camera release documents Earl and Lerlo's participation and captures other CMPD personnel criticizing their actions immediately after the collision.
Matthew-Ryan Lerlo was Earl's partner during the pursuit and is likewise individually named as a defendant in Webb's wrongful-death lawsuit. The complaint alleges that CMPD suspended Lerlo over the pursuit and related conduct. Current professional records continue to associate Lerlo with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/judge-allows-lawsuit-to-proceed-in-fatal-cmpd-pursuit-crash/275-e814f534-38e3-4ca6-bfdc-630f7a71c547
https://www.wbtv.com/2024/01/18/cmpd-officers-city-sued-after-2022-charlotte-chase-kills-mother-injures-2/
https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/lawsuit-filed-by-estate-woman-killed-by-cmpd-chase-suspect/S6ZOHKEBE5CDFNZHSDNZR5ZXP4/
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article308510320.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/rogue-cmpd-pursuit-led-tragic-160848479.html
https://www.charlottealertsnews.com/news/woman-killed-in-head-on-collision-other-car-was-running-from-cops/
https://www.charlottealertsnews.com/news/video-woman-killed-in-head-on-collision-while-suspect-gets-in-chase-with-police/