A woman was detained Tuesday in connection with the arson allegations after the Wendy’s restaurant in Atlanta, where Rayshard Brooks was killed, caught fire.
Natalie White, 29, was wanted after Wendy’s caught fire on June 13, the day after Brooks’ death, according to the Atlanta Fire Department. White was arrested Tuesday by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Fugitive Unit.
White’s attorney, Drew Findling, confirmed to NBC News that he turned himself in to authorities Tuesday and is currently in custody.
“She is not the person who started the fire,” Findling said.
Findling also confirmed that she is the same Natalie White that Brooks mentioned to officers in body camera footage the night of her arrest, but did not confirm the nature of their relationship.
Brooks, a black man, was shot dead by an Atlanta white police officer in Wendy’s parking lot after officers responded to a call about a man who was asleep in his car, obstructing the driveway. Authorities said Brooks, who failed a sobriety test at Wendy’s field, was also wanted on suspicion of DUI.
Many people were outraged at Brooks’ death, especially in the wake of the recent deaths of other African-Americans involved by police, including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
The fire occurred on a night of protests in the Atlanta area, NBC affiliate WXIA reported. Wendy’s, which was engulfed in flames around 10 p.m., was destroyed.
Video of the body and camera on the dash showed Brooks talking to Atlanta police officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan for about 25 minutes the night of June 12. According to the video, Brooks told officers that she had visited her mother’s grave earlier in the day and had gone out drinking with a friend, who left her at Wendy’s because she was hungry.
Brooks resisted when officers tried to arrest him, and then fought back, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting.
Brooks was able to obtain one of the officer’s stun guns, and the video showed that he appeared to be running away with it, GBI director Vic Reynolds said after the arrest.
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Rolfe was fired within 24 hours of the same day that Police Chief Erika Shields resigned over the incident. Brosnan, who did not use his weapon, was placed on administrative leave.
Rolfe faces charges including serious murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal property damage, and violation of the oath. Brosnan was charged with one count of aggravated assault and two counts of violation of oath.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced the charges last week, saying Brooks “never presented himself as a threat” and appeared “almost jovial.”
An attorney for Rolfe said the former officer feared for his life, as well as the lives of others in the parking lot, and that the shooting was justified. Brosnan’s attorneys said the officer did not know Rolfe was going to arrest Brooks.
