No charges will be filed against a Council Bluffs officer who shot a suspect during an altercation last week.
At a Friday morning press conference Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber laid out his decision, saying his job was easy in this case because multiple cameras caught the incident. On February 1st, Officer Trevor Benson was called to a gas station near East Broadway and Frank streets for a suspicious vehicle. When Officer Benson got to the gas station around 3:00, he encountered 21 year old Daton Petrey of Omaha.
Benson approached the car, which was parked at a pump, and told Petrey to exit the vehicle. Petrey refused, and Benson opened the driver's door so he could physically remove Petrey from the vehicle. That is when Petrey threw the car into reverse, trapping Benson between the door and the body of the car.
Benson was able to stay on his feet and managed to fire two shots, one of which hit Petrey in the torso. Yet again authorities say, Petrey tried to flee from police by driving away from the gas station but wouldn't get very far. While fleeing, Petrey turned a corner, ran his vehicle up a guide wire, causing the car to flip over on its roof. Petrey then ran from the car, but was found hiding under a nearby parked vehicle.
Wilber says only seventeen seconds lapsed between the time Benson put his hand on the door handle and fired his service weapon. Surveillance from the gas station, traffic cameras and cruisers provided everything Wilber needed to make his decision. "This was not a difficult decision, legally."
Petrey was treated at Nebraska Medicine for his injuries and Benson was placed on administrative leave while the case was investigated.
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