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Charges dropped for woman who hit Bloomington protesters last year

The Monroe County prosecutor tells 13News the office was informed that Christi J. Bennett is dead.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — All charges have been dismissed against a woman who hit two pedestrians with her vehicle during a July 2020 demonstration in downtown Bloomington. The Monroe County prosecutor tells 13News the office was informed that Christi J. Bennett is dead.

Bennett had been facing the following charges:

  • Criminal recklessness, level 6 felony (two counts)
  • Leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily Injury, level 6 felony
  • Leaving the scene of an accident resulting in bodily injury, class A misdemeanor.
Credit: Monroe County Sheriff's Office
Christi Bennett faces felony charges for injuring Bloomington protesters with her car.

Police determined that Bennett was driving a red Toyota captured in video that shows two people hanging on the hood as the car drove along North Walnut Street between Fourth Street and Sixth Street in Bloomington.

The Toyota approached an electric scooter that was in the street and a man got out and threw it out of the way. That's when 29-year-old Chaz Mottinger approached the Toyota and stood in front of it with her hands on the hood of the car. 

The video shows the car accelerate, causing Mottinger to go up onto the hood of the car. A man then grabbed the car and clung to its side as  itsped north on Walnut Street. Mottinger and the man stayed on the car until it turned east on Sixth Street and they fell off.

The 35-year-old man suffered abrasions to his arms as a result of falling from the vehicle. Mottinger sustained a cut to her head and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

She told 13News she had a concussion and needed two staples to treat the cut on her head.

"I wanted to stop other people from getting hurt," Mottinger said. "I didn't think another human would try to run me over."

Several people provided investigators with with cellphone video of the incident, including the license plate of the car.

A few days later, investigators determined that the registered owner of the car was staying at a motel in Scottsburg, Indiana. There, they found Bennett and the man who tossed the scooter and detained them. The man was later released, but Bennett was charged.

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