Sep 26, 2007 8:52 am US/Eastern
Benefield Arrested For Driving Erratically
He Was Shot In November 2006 Along With Sean Bell
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
One of the men who survived the police shooting in Queens that killed Sean Bell on his wedding day is under arrest.
Police say they pulled over Trent Benefield for driving erratically on 147th Street in South Jamaica Tuesday night. He's charged with assaulting his girlfriend, who was in the car with him at the time of his arrest.
Benefield is also facing charges of harassment, disorderly conduct and driving without a license. Benefield will be arraigned later in the day Wednesday.
Bell, 23, was gunned down on Nov. 25, 2006, just hours before his wedding, as he left his bachelor party. The officers were conducting an undercover operation into alleged prostitution at the Kalua Cabaret in Queens, where the party was held.
According to police union officials and defense lawyers, the undercover officers believed Bell and his friends were going to get a gun. The officers started shooting after a car lurched forward, bumped Isnora and slammed into an unmarked police minivan, authorities said.
Bell's friends, Benefield and Joseph Guzman, survived serious wounds, and have since claimed the officers fired without warning.
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