DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind. — The Delaware County Prosecutor found the police shooting of a man during a chase in June was justified.
Muncie Police officers initially went to investigate a man sitting in his car and drinking beer in a parking lot on Wheeling Avenue. The man, identified as 38-year-old Benjamin Paul Brooks, refused to show his hands to the officers and told them he had a weapon.
Brooks then led officers on a chase in which he tried to ram officers' cars, fired a handgun out of his window toward officers, and tried to run over a Ball State Police Department officer that was putting out stop sticks.
After spike strips deflated one of the tires in Brooks' car, he continued driving before getting out and firing shots at officers. Officers returned fire, hitting Brooks, who got back in his car and kept driving before stopping.
Brooks was wanted on a Grant County warrant for possession of methamphetamine and a warrant out of Nevada for failure to appear for possession of a controlled substance.
Indiana law says an officer is justified in using deadly force only if the officer:
(1) has probable cause to believe that that deadly force is necessary:
- to prevent the commission of a forcible felony2; or
- to effect an arrest of a person who the officer has probable cause to believe poses a threat of serious bodily injury3 to the officer or a third person; and
(2) has given a warning, if feasible, to the person against whom the deadly force is to be used.
The prosecutor also found the officers were justified in firing back at Brooks as self-defense.
Brooks has been charged with attempted murder, reckless driving, resisting law enforcement and other felonies. He is being held at the Delaware County Jail on a $145,000 bail.
