Charlotte Horror: How Trapped Drivers Pleaded with 911 to Rescue Them From Seething Mob, by Emily Zanotti.

Charlotte motorists were caught in a terrifying nightmare as rioters flooded onto I-85 and surrounded their cars during last week’s unrest– and many drivers pleaded with emergency services to rescue them from the demonstrators.

The city of Charlotte has released a number of 911 tapes, including calls made from gridlocked motorists on Charlotte streets who feared for their lives as protests over the death of Keith Scott moved to block highways going in and out of the city. Dozens of vehicles were stopped on I-85 and other major thoroughfares. According to some of the motorists trapped on the streets, protesters jumped on cars, mobbed trucks, and threw rocks.

“I’m trapped,” one motorist told the 911 dispatchers. “They’re all in the street … Oh my God, they’re coming!” Screams could be heard in the background, according to local media who reviewed the tapes. …

Even big rig truckers were unnerved by the melee, calling 911 to report that they were trapped in their trucks as looters opened their trailers and stole their cargo.  “They’re breaking into my truck, the mob out here,” one trucker told Charlotte police. “I can’t move. There’s a whole mob of people, I’m not kidding. Yep, they’ve taken everything. They’ve got the whole road blocked.” …

Truckers also reported that rioters had started fires on the highway. That made a getaway in the truck impossible, and leaving the truck on foot too dangerous.