Charlotte is back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons after a disturbing video surfaced of a man allegedly attacking a woman on a city street. Police say the suspect, Di-Quan Schafar Hunt, has a lengthy arrest history and was taken into custody after the assault drew fresh outrage online.

The case lands in a city still rattled by the killing of Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian refugee stabbed on public transit last year. That earlier attack already hardened public anger about violent repeat offenders, and this new arrest only adds more fuel to the fire.

According to police, Hunt, 32, was arrested after a July 30 confrontation in which he allegedly punched a woman and ran off. The victim was treated at a hospital for injuries described as serious but not life-threatening.

A video posted by local reporter Hannah Goetz shows Hunt yelling, “Don’t wave at me” at a woman walking by before the situation turns violent. The clip then appears to show him sucker-punching her to the ground, standing over her, pointing in her face, and slapping her while shouting, “You still talking? July 21st. Say Elijah, say, Elijah.”

Police say Hunt is now being investigated in connection with other assaults on women that may have been recorded by him as well. Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office records show nine arrests in the past three years, with charges ranging from trespassing and simple assault to assault on a female, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer, violating a protective order, contempt of court, breaking or entering, and probation violations.

That kind of rap sheet raises an obvious question: how does someone keep cycling through the system while violent behavior keeps stacking up? Hunt’s record suggests more than a one-off breakdown, and it points to a wider failure when dangerous people are not stopped early enough.

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Goetz reported that Hunt was convicted in 2020 of shooting into an occupied building or vehicle. She also said he was arrested in December after authorities accused him of threatening a man with a knife near a Charlotte transit line.

Another video reportedly tied to Hunt shows him chasing a woman who runs into the street and hides behind a car. That detail matters because it suggests the latest attack may not have been isolated at all, but part of a pattern that had been building in plain sight.

Police said Hunt was arrested Thursday evening and then taken to a medical facility for treatment, though no reason was given. Once he is released, he is expected to be handed over to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

When asked why Hunt had been released so many times despite his history, a police spokesperson said, “We don’t have an answer for you for that question because it’s not our jurisdiction.” The same spokesperson said investigators believe there could be more victims based on other videos circulating online, and urged anyone with information to contact detectives or submit tips anonymously through Crimestoppers.

The timing is hard to ignore. Hunt’s arrest comes just under a year after Zarutska, 23, was stabbed on a Charlotte public transit train, allegedly by Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., who also had a long arrest history that included violent charges.

That earlier case shocked people because it looked random, brutal, and entirely avoidable. Now another repeat offender is in the headlines, another woman is hurt, and Charlotte is once again left staring at the same ugly question about what happens when violent criminals keep slipping back into the community.