Arrest warrant shows ‘improper brakes’ as likely cause of Raleigh parade death

The arrest warrant for the 20-year-old man who killed a young girl while towing a float in the Raleigh Christmas Parade faulted the driver for inadequate brakes.

Landen Christopher Glass was behind the wheel of one of two trucks towing a float carrying members of the CC & Co. Dance Complex when spectators say he lost control of his vehicle. One of the group’s dancers — an 11-year-old girl, according to the warrant — was struck at low speed and died from her injuries.

Glass, of Goode, Va., faces misdemeanor charges of death by vehicle, reckless driving and possession of a weapon at a parade, along with traffic infractions for improper brakes and failure to reduce speed, according to the public warrant obtained Monday by The News & Observer.

The document confirms accounts from spectators on the scene, who said Glass was honking his horn and yelling for people to get out of the way after the brakes failed on his GMC pickup with several after-market modifications. After a crowd of spectators and parade participants managed to stop the vehicle by hand, the warrant said police found a Canik 9mm pistol in his vehicle.

Glass, who the warrant says works on car safety systems, was released on a $4,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court in late January.

The arrest warrant notes that Glass has no criminal or traffic history in North Carolina but was assigned “driver improvement” after receiving several tickets in Virginia for inspection and equipment violations “all in 2021.”

But as The News & Observer reported Sunday, Glass’ most recent traffic infractions were just three weeks ago, when he received tickets for failing to have his vehicle inspected, window tinting violations, an improper exhaust system and not having marker lights.

In the last two years, Virginia court records show, he was ticketed a total of four times for failing to get his vehicle inspected, although it’s unclear if the tickets were issued for the same truck he was driving in the parade.

As of early Monday afternoon, parade organizers at Shop Local Raleigh have not yet responded to questions from the N&O about their policies for vetting and approving drivers for entries to the event, which the website notes is invitation only.

Read the arrest warrant

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the model of the truck driven by Landen Glass. He was driving a modified GMC pickup truck with a Denali trim package.

This story was originally published November 21, 2022 at 1:45 PM.

Tyler Dukes

The News & Observer

919-696-1935

Tyler Dukes is the lead editor for AI innovation in journalism at McClatchy Media, where he leads a small team of journalists that helps the company’s 30 local newsrooms responsibly harness data, automation and artificial intelligence to elevate and strengthen their reporting. He was previously an investigative reporter at The News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C. In 2017, he completed a fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University and grew up in Elizabeth City, N.C.

Kristen Johnson

The News & Observer

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Kristen Johnson is a local government reporter covering Durham for The News & Observer. She previously covered Cary and western Wake County. Prior to coming home to the Triangle, she reported for The Fayetteville Observer and spent time covering politics and culture in Washington, D.C. She is an alumna of UNC at Charlotte and American University.