Ring Video Shows Waukesha Christmas Parade Suspect Darrell Brooks Pleading For Help, Getting Arrested

WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS) -- In the moments after ditching the red Ford Escape SUV that Darrell Brooks allegedly drove to mow down victims marching in the Waukesha Christmas Parade, Brooks ran to a nearby home asking for help.

Ring door video at the home of Daniel Rider shows Brooks knocking on the door. Rider told CBS News that he was watching the Kansas City-Dallas football game when he answered the door. Brooks told Rider that was homeless and had called for an Uber but didn't know when it was coming.

"He was so polite and nice to me," Rider said.  "It's hard to wrap my head around it."

(Credit: Video via Daniel Rider/TMX)

Rider said he was thinking about something his mother told him earlier that day--the message in church that morning was to help the homeless.  So Rider let Brooks into his home because it was cold and he was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt and no shoes.  Rider said Brooks used his cell phone to call his mother, while Rider made Brooks a sandwich and gave him a coat to warm up.  Rider said he couldn't tell what Brooks was saying to his mom.

Brooks even pretended to be unware of the parade in town, asking Rider "if there was something going on downtown."

Brooks sat on the couch for about 10 minutes, and Rider began to feel like he should tell Brooks to leave. That seemed like a long time to allow a stranger in his home, Rider reasoned.

The video shows Brooks outside with Rider, who asked for his coat and phone back. All this time, Rider said, he couldn't see the alerts on this phone ordering residents to shelter in place after the incident.

Then, Rider went back inside and locked the door. Brooks saw police and pounded on the door, asking to come back in to "get my ID."  Rider refused to let him back inside.

Officers are heard yelling at Brooks to "put your hands where we can see them."

He was taken into custody without incident.

As police searched the porch, one officer asks Rider, "Do you know this guy [Brooks]?"

"Absolutely not!" Rider said.

About one minute after police arrived, Rider, said, an Uber arrived in the area.

Rider said Brooks was not intimidating at all -- he's only 5-7, about 130 pounds he said -- and was quite polite.

"I tend to believe people when they tell me things," Rider said.

Brooks, 39, was charged with five counts of murder after he allegedly plowed through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Sunday, killing at least five and injuring dozens more. At a hearing on Tuesday, Court Commissioner Kevin Costello called the allegations "shocking" and said the case against Brooks is quite strong.  He set cash bail for Brooks at $5 million, citing his long criminal record and declaring him a clear flight risk.

Online court records showed Brooks has two open criminal cases in Milwaukee County. And at least six other convictions for violent behavior. One of the pending cases involves Brooks allegedly running over a woman with an SUV.

CBS 2 learned that Brooks was charged with resisting or obstructing an officer, bail jumping, recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct and battery on Nov. 5. According to the criminal complaint, Brooks punched a woman who was the mother of his child, and then ran over the woman in a maroon Ford Escape, similar to the vehicle used in Sunday's rampage. He pleaded not guilty to counts 1, 4 and 5. This appears to be a domestic violence case because one of the court entries says two women filed for a no contact order, which the court put into effect. On Friday. he posted $1,000 cash bail.

The Milwaukee County District attorney's office has opened an investigation into such a low bail "in light of the nature of the recent charges and pending charges against Mr. Brooks,' according to a memo released Monday and obtained by CBS 58 reporter Kristen Barbaresi.

CBS 2 found records for another ongoing case from July 2020. According to that criminal complaint, Brooks got into a physical fight with a relative over a cell phone and fired a gun at the relative and a friend who were leaving in a vehicle. He was charged with two counts of recklessly endangering safety with use of a dangerous weapon, and possession of a firearm/convicted of felony. He pleaded not guilty in this case. In court, prosecutors identified the relative as Brooks' nephew.

• In 2011 Brooks was found guilty on a resisting/obstructing an officer charge.
• In 2010, he was found guilty on strangulation and suffocation felony charges in Wood County.
• In 1999, he was found guilty on substantial battery-intend bodily harm, a felony.
• Brooks was also a convicted sex offender, stemming from a case in Nevada about 15 years ago. He got a 15-year-old girl pregnant in Sparks, Nevada when he was 24, authorities said. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation. On June 23, 2016, he was arrested in the same town for failing to register as a sex offender. He bailed out on that charge and never appeared in court. He has had an active warrant from Nevada since then. The police department in Sparks, NV told CBS 2 the warrant was specific to Nevada and not other states. However, it's unclear if authorities from Nevada and Wisconsin had previously communicated about the warrant, and whether authorities in Wisconsin were aware of it. CBS 2 has contacted the Milwaukee County Distract Attorney's Office and the Milwaukee Police Department with questions.
• In 2003 he pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor resisting arrest.
• In 2005 he got brief prison time for obstructing a police officer, also a misdemeanor.

Brooks was also arrested in Georgia on May 27, 2021, on a misdemeanor battery charge, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors noted that Brooks also has convictions in Wood, Manitowoc, and Langlade counties in northern Wisconsin as well as his home county of Milwaukee.