Man has over 40 convictions — but keeps coming back to downtown Raleigh streets
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- Brice Forman has been convicted in North Carolina more than 40 times since 2010.
- Dozens of social media posts allege Forman has assaulted people in downtown Raleigh.
- Wake County officials say they can only do so much legally in such situations.
A Raleigh man’s dozens of convictions have generated widespread discussion online about the intersection of public safety and mental health.
The conversation took off last month with a Facebook post in the Raleigh Downtown Community group. The writer alleged Brice Forman, 38, had attacked her husband outside a downtown restaurant and noted Forman’s numerous arrests.
“I am concerned, because I’ve spoken with locals, and this is a known safety issue,” she wrote. “He aggresses strangers on the sidewalk, and he often escalates to violence even if people try to de-escalate or walk away.”
Court records show Forman has been convicted in North Carolina over 40 times since 2010 for crimes including trespassing and assault. He most recently pleaded guilty April 16 to second-degree trespass at the West Peace Street McDonald’s and was sentenced to three days in jail with three days’ credit for time already served.
That’s the type of sentence Forman, who court documents describe as homeless and struggling with unspecified mental illness regularly receives, The News & Observer found. In at least 27 of his 41 convictions in North Carolina, Forman had enough credit for time served that he didn’t spend additional time in jail after pleading guilty, court records show.
The longest Forman appears to have spent in jail or prison was in December 2023, when he spent seven days in prison for a conviction on a charge of breaking and entering vehicles, state records indicate.
Typically, Forman faces misdemeanor charges like trespassing or larceny; he’s often accused of stealing alcohol and food from grocery stores, like the Publix on West Peace Street, according to arrest warrants.
But his court records also indicate bouts of violence, like in July 2025, when he pleaded guilty to assaulting and chasing someone in Raleigh, and January 2015, when he was convicted of a September 2013 assault in Raleigh. One of the victims in that case commented on the Facebook post, writing, “He was drunk and assaulted me and a guy on a bus in 2013 ... Was back on the bus the day he got out but seemed more clear headed [sic].”
And for a moment, Forman was even caught up in the investigation into the killing of Raleigh teacher Zoe Welsh, who was fatally assaulted in her Clay Street home in January. A search warrant shows police detained Forman after officers following a K-9 track saw a broken window at an apartment complex and found Forman inside.
Forman told police he’d been evicted from the apartment and had broken in, according to the search warrant. Because he matched the physical description of Welsh’s alleged attacker and had blood on his hands, he was briefly held in custody.
Ryan Camacho was later charged with murder in Welsh’s killing.
Forman, meanwhile, was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor breaking or entering; he pleaded guilty Jan. 22 and was sentenced to 18 days in jail with 18 days’ credit for time served, court records show.
What resources are available?
In a post to the Raleigh subreddit last week, a commenter who knows Forman wrote he “does really well” when medicated.
“There have been a lot of support services that offer him help,” the commenter wrote. “He’s even gotten a few jobs cleaning dishes and stuff when he is in a better state.”
Raleigh City Council Member Jonathan Lambert-Melton said in a text message to The N&O on Wednesday that the Facebook post about Forman’s arrests was shared with the city manager.
“She confirmed with our police chief that they are aware of the ongoing concerns,” Lambert-Melton wrote.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told The N&O she can’t comment on individual cases, but noted the limitations of the justice system when dealing with individuals who cycle in and out of jail.
“You see this pattern [that] they are not able to be held in custody very long, in part because the offenses that they’re committing statutorily, legally, don’t provide for long sentences,” Freeman said.
When individuals are involuntarily committed, they’re typically released once they’re no longer a danger to themselves or the general public, which doesn’t guarantee long-term treatment, according to Freeman.
“A lot of that has to do with the threshold of that standard to be committed and involuntarily committed, and a lot of it has to do with the lack of resources,” Freeman said. “The combination of those things unfortunately creates a system where there’s a lot of churn within the system.”
Wake County doesn’t have the staffing for the mental health courts that neighboring Orange and Durham counties offer, but there is a mental health deferral program Freeman’s office coordinates with the public defender’s office and Alliance Health, she said.
“We have, for a long time now ... tried to incentivize people getting treatment and staying compliant on their medication by taking those lower-level offenses and using it as kind of a carrot to get those cases dismissed if they will comply with treatment,” she said.
In a growing area like Wake County, the criminal justice system will only encounter more individuals needing mental health resources and other types of support, Freeman told The N&O.
“As we grow as a community, it is likely that we will see more of this, not less, because that is generally the trend nationally,” she said. “And so it really is incumbent upon those of us in leadership, but then also the community, to really try and find ways to support building out the necessary resources to meet the demand.”
Lt. David Davis, a spokesperson for the Raleigh Police Department, confirmed to The N&O that Forman has been offered resources by the department’s ACORNS unit.
“Due to privacy considerations, we are unable to share details about any current or past service involvement,” Davis wrote. “ACORNS works closely with community providers, healthcare systems, and justice partners to support continuity of care, while also recognizing that outcomes are influenced by broader system limitations such as service capacity, eligibility requirements, and voluntary participation in treatment.”
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com.
This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Man has over 40 convictions — but keeps coming back to downtown Raleigh streets."
