District attorney’s office concludes investigation into fatal collision, no charges filed against Brunswick County sheriffs

SHALLOTTE, N.C. (WECT) - The District Attorney’s Office has concluded that no criminal statues were violated by the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office in the fatal collision that claimed the life of Tyrance Benbow on July 8.

The district attorney and State Highway Patrol reportedly reviewed body cam footage, witness statements, photographs, and a collision reconstruction report after family members disputed the sheriff’s version of what occurred at the collision.

According to the district attorney’s office, the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Vice Narcotics Unit was investigating Benbow and learned he procured and trafficked large quantities of drugs from South Carolina to Brunswick County for illegal distribution.

On the date of the collision, the agents surveyed and attempted to stop Benbow’s vehicle, which lead to a vehicle pursuit that ended when Benbow’s vehicle collided with front bumper of an agent’s vehicle and then into another vehicle traveling on NC-130, killing him. Agents reportedly found 77.1 grams of cocaine in the vehicle.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol’s Collision Reconstruction Unit performed determined that the collision was not the result of a PIT maneuver and Benbow’s vehicle struck the agent’s vehicle when Benbow overcorrected after running off the road.

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

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