[TAMPA Edition]
St. Petersburg Times.. St. Petersburg, Fla.
Author: SUE CARLTON
Date: Feb 9, 1995
Start Page: 1.B,2.B
Section: TAMPA TODAY; TAMPA BAY AND STATE
The way one lawyer saw it, the man in the stolen car and the police officer who hung from the window as it raced down the street had something in common.
"They both were looking square at dying," attorney Brian Gonzalez said.
Wednesday, a jury took less than an hour to acquit the passenger in that car, Keith Beneby, of trying to Tampa police Officer Richard Pemberton.
It all happened in a few short moments in the early hours of April 24, when Lamones Ogletree, Chris Lee Monschein and Beneby were sitting inside a black Mustang near Union and Main streets. Driving by in his police cruiser, Pemberton spotted the Mustang, which earlier had been reported stolen.
As the officer stood outside the drivers door questioning him, Ogletree started the car. Pemberton tried to grab the keys from the ignition, but the car took off with the officer hanging in the window.
The Mustang sped down the street as fast as 70 miles an hour. Pemberton told Ogletree to stop and warned him several times that he would shoot. Finally, he fired, hitting Ogletree in the back.
Investigators said Beneby, who was in the passenger seat, hit Pemberton over and over, trying to knock him off the speeding car. "Keith Beneby only reacted, not intentionally, to a 9-mm Glock," his attorney told the jury. Beneby was shot once in the forearm. The car jumped a curb at N Boulevard and came to a stop in a field. Ogletree tried to run away, but collapsed to the ground. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Pemberton, a nine-year police department veteran, was cleared in the shooting. Beneby, a five-time felon, was charged with attempted first-degree murder of a police officer and opposing a police officer with violence. Had he been convicted, he would have faced a sentence of life In prison.
"It was my sincere belief that Keith Beneby did not Intend to injure the officer, Gonzalez said. - SUE CARLTON
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Abstract (Document Summary)
The way one lawyer saw it, the man in the stolen car and the police officer who
hung from the window as it raced down the street had something in common.
Wednesday, a jury took less than an hour to acquit the passenger in that car,
Keith Beneby, of trying to kill Tampa police Officer Richard Pemberton.
It all happened in a few short moments in the early hours of April 24, when
Lamones Ogletree, Chris Lee Monschein and Beneby were sitting Inside a
black Mustang near Union and Main streets. Driving by In his police cruiser,
Pemberton spotted the Mustang, which earlier had been reported stolen.
