No criminal charges for Brunswick County Officers involved in fatal July chase

SHALLOTTE, NC (WWAY) — The District Attorney’s Office has concluded its examination into the fatal July high-speed collision resulting in the death of Tyrance Benbow.

According to the Office, no criminal statutes were violated by the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office in their pursuit.

The decision came after consultation with their law enforcement partners with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, a review of all available evidence, including body cam, witness statements, photographs, and a collision reconstruction report.

The crash occurred on July 8th on NC 130 in Shallotte following a chase through the county.

Agents with the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Vice Narcotics Unit were conducting an investigation into drug trafficking by Tyrance Benbow. Over the period of several weeks, agents say they learned Benbow would make trips to South Carolina to procure large quantities of drugs and import them back to Brunswick County for illegal distribution.

On July 8th around 7:45 pm, agents observed Benbow as well as another suspect vehicle traveling in tandem. Agents say they knew based on their training and experience that drug traffickers will often travel in tandem and the agents reasonably believed that Benbow had committed and was then in the act of committing a felony drug offense. The suspect vehicle traveling in tandem with Benbow was traffic stopped for a window tint violation.

Shortly after, Benbow was in a stationary position stopped at a red light. After the light turned green, Benbow accelerated away at a high rate of speed in excess of 100 mph. In response, an agent attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle being driven by Benbow by activating blue lights and siren. Benbow failed to stop his vehicle and law enforcement began a pursuit.

Over the course of the pursuit, Benbow reached speeds of over 100 mph and ran a red light. During the pursuit when Benbow was traveling at slower speeds, the agent attempted to get in position to execute a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) several times, but was blocked by Benbow and was unable to execute a PIT.

Later on in the chase, Benbow was traveling east on NC 130 with the agent in pursuit. Benbow’s vehicle traveled off the right side of the roadway into the shoulder and when the vehicle came back onto the roadway, it collided with the front bumper of the agent’s vehicle. Benbow’s vehicle continued to travel left of the center line and collided with another vehicle traveling west on NC 130. The collision resulted in the death of
Benbow.

A subsequent search of Benbow’s vehicle revealed the presence of a trafficking amount of cocaine, 77.1 grams. Had Mr. Benbow survived the collision he would have been charged with drug trafficking, reckless driving, and felony flee to elude, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol’s Collision Reconstruction Unit performed a thorough investigation and say they determined the collision was not the result of a PIT maneuver.

The investigation has conclusively determined that Benbow’s vehicle struck the agent’s vehicle when Benbow overcorrected after running off the road. Although PIT maneuvers were attempted at several points during the chase, no PIT maneuver was ever successfully executed. Therefore, deadly force was not used by the agent during the pursuit of Tyrance Benbow and no criminal statutes were violated by the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office said.

“The high-speed chase that Benbow initiated posed a serious threat to the safety and welfare of innocent motorists,” District Attorney Jon David said. “The Highway Patrol has determined that the resulting collision was the product of Benbow’s criminal actions and not caused by the Deputy.”