Hailey Branson-Potts
“If something like this can happen to ME, it can certainly happen to ANYONE!”
“I wanted to cooperate … because I was convinced throughout this whole thing that they would figure this out,” Belk said, adding that he kept his “head down because I knew I was innocent but they wouldn’t know I was innocent.”
Read the full story at Los Angeles Times ↗“I hope other governors across the nation will follow our lead.”— Gov. Pat McCrory
S.B. 233 was inspired by Durham native Charles Belk who in August 2014 was mistakenly identified as a suspect in a bank robbery.
North Carolina is the first state to sign the legislation into law.
Read the full story at High Country Press ↗Jelia Hepner
“They never had water or electricity but never complained. They simply made do with what they had.”
“Costa Rica was the first place I went to for two months, did some writing in the mountains and the jungles,” Belk said.
Belk says he loves traveling the world but there is no place like Durham.
Read the full story at WRAL ↗Hailey Branson-Potts
“If something like this can happen to ME, it can certainly happen to ANYONE!”
“I wanted to cooperate … because I was convinced throughout this whole thing that they would figure this out,” Belk said, adding that he kept his “head down because I knew I was innocent but they wouldn’t know I was innocent.”
Read the full story at Los Angeles Times ↗Robert J. Lopez
“Hey, I was ‘tall,’ ‘bald,’ a ‘male’ and ‘black,’ so I fit the description.”
Producer Charles Belk “matched the clothing and physical characteristics” of a suspected bank robber when he was pulled over by officers on Friday evening after he left a restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard, according to the Beverly Hills Police Department.
“We definitely regret the inconvenience that was caused.” — Sgt. Max Subin
Read the full story at Los Angeles Times ↗Kashmira Gander
“It’s one of those things that you hear about, but never think it would happen to you.”
Stopping short of an apology, the department said that Charles Belk “matched the clothing and physical characteristics” of a suspected bank robber.
He described how he was handcuffed by police, and told to sit on a curb in the Los Angeles heat, as rush hour traffic passed by.
Read the full story at The Independent ↗Bob Collins
“Doesn’t matter if he’s a “Taye Diggs BLACK”, a “LL Cool J BLACK”, or “a Drake BLACK.”
Mr. Belk’s story got attention after he posted it on Facebook.
“Within seconds, I was detained and told to sit on the curb of the very busy street, during rush hour traffic.” — from his post
Read the full story at MPR News ↗Anita Bennett
“I did not want to give them any reason to question my interest in cooperating.”
“An officer on a motorcycle pulled up next to me and asked me to come over to him,” Belk explained. “He asked to see my identification and asked me to sit on the curb.”
Read the full story at TheWrap ↗Gadi Schwartz reporting
“I put my head down. I’m like, ‘I’m not gonna cry in front of these people.’”
“I had no idea why I was locked up,” Belk said in an interview with NBC4. “I had no idea what I was being charged for.”
Read the full story at NBC4 Los Angeles ↗“Within minutes, I was surrounded by 6 police cars, handcuffed very tightly, fully searched for weapons, and placed back on the curb.”
Belk penned a post on Facebook describing the “life altering experience,” saying his only crime was fitting the description of a “tall, bald head, black male.”
Read the full story at HuffPost ↗Ted Chen reporting
“I won’t ever get those six hours back but I want to honestly say it’s a blessing in disguise.”
Belk and Beverly Hills Police Chief Dave Snowden released a five-minute video, in which the chief said the investigation “identified areas that could and should have been handled differently.”
He also launched a social media campaign called “Autoerase.”
Read the full story at NBC4 Los Angeles ↗Ethan Shorey
“What should never happen is that these wrongfully detained individuals continue to suffer as a result of that mistake.”— Rep. Carlos Tobon
Charles Belk and Rep. Carlos Tobon explain to Pawtucket Police Chief Paul King and other officers how Tobon’s “auto erase” bill would work in Rhode Island.
Read the full story at The Valley Breeze ↗Associated Press
“Belk came close to tears as he thanked the governor and Sen. Floyd McKissick of Durham, the bill’s main sponsor.”
Gov. Pat McCrory on Thursday signed the bill into law and presented the pen to Charles Belk, a producer who was arrested in Beverly Hills, California, last year after police mistook him for the suspect in a nearby bank robbery.
Read the full story at Associated Press (via WPDE) ↗“I hope other governors across the nation will follow our lead.”— Gov. Pat McCrory
S.B. 233 was inspired by Durham native Charles Belk who in August 2014 was mistakenly identified as a suspect in a bank robbery.
North Carolina is the first state to sign the legislation into law.
Read the full story at High Country Press ↗Jennifer Delson
“This was about re-engineering a process.”
A longtime Trojan alumni supporter, Belk thought about the case of mistaken identity like an engineer. His USC engineering degree “helped me look at things logically,” he said.
“When life throws you a lemon, at least you still have your life!”
Read the full story at USC Viterbi Magazine ↗“Upstanding citizens should not have arrest records that follow them throughout their lives because they unfairly ‘fit the description.’”— Rep. Carlos Tobon
The General Assembly passed legislation last week supporting the “Fitting the Description” movement and requiring law enforcement to automatically destroy all arrest records for those who are victims of mistaken or wrongful arrests.
Read the full story at The Valley Breeze ↗Associated Press
“A new law in Rhode Island inspired by a mistaken arrest in California requires law enforcement agencies to destroy arrest records of people who were wrongfully arrested.”
Belk attended Tuesday’s event at the Rhode Island State House. He’s also successfully pushed for similar laws in Colorado, Illinois and North Carolina.
Read the full story at Associated Press (via Daily Herald) ↗Jelia Hepner
“They never had water or electricity but never complained. They simply made do with what they had.”
“Costa Rica was the first place I went to for two months, did some writing in the mountains and the jungles,” Belk said.
Belk says he loves traveling the world but there is no place like Durham.
Read the full story at WRAL ↗Short clips from radio and podcast interviews, 2017 to 2026.
▶TV producer mistaken for robberCNN · Aug 2014 · Watch on YouTube ↗
▶Film producer misidentified as bank robber, held for six hoursCBS · Aug 2014 · Watch on YouTube ↗
▶Racial profiling and the wrongful arrest of a producerThe Hutchinson Report · 2014 · Watch on YouTube ↗
▶Police chief and Charles Belk: joint video statementFitting The Description™ · Nov 2014 · Watch on YouTube ↗
▶Alumni profile: Charles BelkUSC Viterbi · 2015 · Watch on YouTube ↗
▶NSBE National Convention panelFitting The Description · Mar 2015 · Watch on YouTube ↗
▶Durham’s “Charles Belk and Justified AutoErasure Day”Fitting The Description · Mar 2016 · Watch on YouTube ↗
▶#AutoErase™ compilation reelFitting The Description · 2016 · Watch on YouTube ↗
▶Durham man wrongfully arrested dedicates life to help othersWRAL · Sept 2023 · Watch on YouTube ↗Book Charles for your event or show: Book Charles · Media and interview requests · My Journey