CHARLOTTE, NC - On Monday, September 28, a grand jury formally charged two brothers in a series of gun cases, including the shooting of a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) officer earlier this month.
The brothers, 28-year-old Dionte McCracking and 27-year-old Jatarius McCracking, were indicted and ordered held without bond. The judge said that if either is released in the future, he would have to wear an ankle monitor. Both are scheduled to return to court on Thursday, December 10, WCNC reported.
Dionte McCracking is charged with shooting the officer on September 9. His charges in that case include attempted first-degree murder, assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm by a felon, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, according to WBTV.
Authorities said the officer was called to the 1200 block of Enderly Road around 12:23 a.m. after someone reported two people acting suspiciously in a car. Police later learned the car had been reported stolen.
When the officer arrived, he found a man standing near a damaged power line next to the car. The man fled on foot when he saw the officer, who chased him down and tackled him to the ground, according to the arrest affidavit. The man allegedly tried to shoot the officer in the head, and during a struggle over the handgun, the officer was shot in the right shoulder.
Police located Dionte McCracking at an apartment later that day, and he was arrested after a standoff that lasted several hours.
In a separate case, Dionte is charged with firing into a home on Reliance Street on August 26 while three people, including a child, were inside. The indictment also charges him with attempting to kill each of those three people with a 9mm pistol and with damaging two vehicles.
His brother, Jatarius McCracking, is charged in a different case with firing into a home on Crandon Drive on August 27 while five people, including a child, were inside. The indictment lists 10 counts against him, one for each time the gun was allegedly fired into the home.
In total, the indictment includes 14 counts against Dionte across two cases and 10 counts against Jatarius. However, the indictment covers only some of the charges the brothers face. Police recently announced that Jatarius faces 128 charges and Dionte faces 62, for a combined 190 since July. The charges include car theft, breaking into vehicles, illegal gun possession, and several shootings.
Police said both brothers have criminal records going back more than a decade. Jatarius was arrested on September 2, one week before the officer was shot. He was reportedly on parole for a prior conviction for shooting into an occupied dwelling, and at the time of his arrest, he was found in possession of a stolen firearm and gloves linked to car thefts.
"While the McCracking brothers' offenses are heavily property-crime focused, we know how quickly such actions can escalate to violence—as they did in this case with the attempted murder of one of our officers. I am incredibly proud of the diligent investigative work displayed throughout this case, from identifying habitual felons to connecting evidence across multiple jurisdictions," CMPD Chief of Police Estella D. Patterson said.
Detectives began investigating the brothers in late July after linking them to multiple shootings and property crimes across several jurisdictions. Police said the investigation is active and ongoing, and additional charges are expected.
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