CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On a bitterly cold night in January, James Sims would meet his destiny.
"I see a fire truck going with its lights and my first thought is, 'This can't be good,'" said Brian Sims, James' brother.
James Sims, 48, grew up in Union County in a family of five brothers, including Brian and Lou. His mother, Eline Thoresbury, kept them in church and away from trouble.
"He was very interested in football. He was very good from the very first game right up until high school," said Thoresbury.
"It's almost like he was the oldest," said Lou Sims. "I looked up to him because he was a good athlete."
James Sims got married and went into construction.
"He rigged steel and went around the country with crews for months," said Lou Sims.
His mother proudly talks about James' 19-year-old and 16-year-old sons.
"They had some of his looks, some of their features," said Thoresbury.
Ten years ago, James Sims descended into a pit of alcoholism and despair. He could no longer hold a job, lost his family and became homeless.
"The hardest part is to watch the gradual deterioration -- physically, mentally," said Lou Sims.
"I never drank," said Thoresbury. "I didn't know what it would do to you. I couldn't imagine that somebody couldn't just stop it if you wanted to stop it."
Even though James Sims was homeless, he always stayed in touch with his family, always called on birthdays, and last December he went to Myrtle Beach to spend some time with his mother for Christmas.
"We were trying to rescue him. We were trying to get him to see he needed to give the alcohol up," said Thoresbury.
But the family would never get another chance.
On Jan. 10, with the temperature in the teens, James Sims walked inside the Walmart on Galleria Boulevard near Matthews.
One of the last people to see him told his brother Lou, "He looked like he was cold and his hands were kind of purple looking."
Sims was not allowed to stay in the Walmart for long. The store called the police and he was taken into custody for trespassing, but there was no long drive to jail. Instead, Officer R.A. Benson issued Sims a citation and let him out where he could walk 500 to 600 yards to his tent behind the store.
"I couldn't understand why you would take him and just let him out in the cold. That I just can't comprehend," said Thoresbury.
What's even harder to fathom for the family is they believe that Sims was not wearing a coat and only had one shoe.
"It seems to me you would have to know he's out here to his death, if he's out here very long like he is," Thoresbury said.
Three days went by and Thoresbury had not heard from her son. The family was worried and came to Charlotte to look for him.
"We went to detox centers. We went to mental health centers. We just went everywhere trying to find him," Thoresbury said.
After three more days and a police search, officers located Sims. It appeared that the 48-year-old never made it to his tent.
"I think they just thought it was another homeless person and if he fell down over there in the ditch and he didn't get up again, they wouldn't have to put up with him," said Thoresbury.
Brian Sims agreed, saying, "We all have value and I just think he made a poor judgment about putting any individual out in those conditions."
Sources say that Officer Benson was, in fact, ordered to take Sims to jail but declined to do so. Police won't talk specifics because an internal affairs investigation is under way.
"Part of our job is to protect and serve the citizens of our community, and if there is anything we can do to protect them by providing them with shelter or getting them to safe shelter," said Capt. Lisa Goeltz, who heads the Independence Division.
Those words are of little comfort to Sims' family. They hope that nobody else has to go through their experience.
"He's valuable to someone. It don’t matter if he's homeless," said Brian Sims.
"I don't find anywhere in the oath for a law enforcement officer, or anybody that takes an oath, that says except you be an alcoholic, except you be homeless," said Lou Sims.
Benson is a 16-year veteran. A police spokesperson says he is still on duty while the department determines if he violated any policies.
