Officers Hurt; Suspect Shot, Killed After Blue Ash Police Pursuit

Story by 9News Reporter Bill Price:

Photographed by Chic Poppe and Dave Marlo:

A suspect is dead and two Blue Ash police officers were injured after a high speed police chase ended in a police-involved shooting early Tuesday morning.

The suspect has been identified as Charles Wayne Bennett, 37, of Blue Ash.

Officers said they were forced to fire upon Bennett, who was unarmed, because he reportedly tried to run them down -- not once, but twice.

The incident started just before 12:30 a.m., on Cornell Road near Sycamore High School, when the black Chevrolet Bennett was driving was spotted driving suspiciously, police said.

When officers tried to pull the car over, they said Bennett turned his car around and drove back toward their cruiser, almost hitting it.

Officers tried to get him to stop, but instead Bennett led them on a chase of several miles through Blue Ash, at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.

As Bennett's car approached Reed Hartman Highway at Glendale Milford, he was seen driving left of the center line and without his headlights on.

The car then slammed into a Blue Ash cruiser at Reed Hartman and Cooper Road.

As two officers approached the stopped car, they said Bennett accelerated towards one of them.

Both officers fired into the car in response. At that point, Bennett reportedly took off again.

Just 200 feet away along Reed Hartman Highway, Bennett hit another Blue Ash police car.

A third officer was struck by the car as it lunged forward.

He was slammed onto the car's roof and then fired additional shots into the car to get it to stop.

The chase finally ended near the intersection of Reed Hartman Highway and Cooper Road in Blue Ash, after the driver crashed into a Blue Ash cruiser.

Blue Ash Police Captain James Schaffer explained what happened next, "Further down the road at Reed Hartman, the suspect crashed into a second police car. Then the car lunged at several officers as they tried to approach, and more shots were fired."

Bennett was shot by police and was taken to Bethesda North Hospital in Montgomery where he died.

There are numerous bullet holes in the suspect's car, which police said was reported stolen out of Clermont County.

Two Blue Ash Police officers suffered minor injuries. One was taken to the hospital and released, while the other refused treatment.

Police said the suspect had, what they refer to as, "an extensive criminal record."

Bennett's passenger was injured by flying glass and was taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released. He is not being charged.

The three officers who shot at the stolen car have been placed on paid administrative leave while the pursuit and shooting investigation continues.

Bennett is well known among Blue Ash Police for charges of drug trafficking.