Day in court ends poorly for shooting suspect

Thursday, March 16, 2023

A 20-year-old Greencastle man being held for firing a handgun more than a dozen times on the grounds of Castlebury Apartments made his initial appearance in court Wednesday afternoon. And it was a short one.

De Andre J. Benjamin, restrained with his hands shackled behind him, appeared before Judge Denny Bridges in a Putnam Superior Court case conducted in the circuit courtroom.

But even before being escorted to the defendant’s table for his hearing, Benjamin made an impression in court, slouching in a chair at the rear of the courtroom, verbally responding to other defendants’ interactions with the judge and at least thrice rising from his seat and turning around, only to be reprimanded by deputies and ordered to sit back down.

But it was when he reached the table at the front of the court that his theatrics reached their crescendo.

As a deputy moved the microphone closer to him, Benjamin blurted out, “Never been arrested, bro.” He then used his feet to shove the chair backward and laid face down across the table.

Taking it all in, Judge Bridges suggested, “Mr. Benjamin might be better served to come back next week when he can sit up straight and act respectfully.

“Take him out of here before I find him in contempt of court,” the judge ordered deputies.

Benjamin was remanded to the Putnam County Jail with a new initial hearing date set for 1:30 p.m. Monday.

That’s when he will answer to charges of:

-- Criminal recklessness while firing a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony.

-- Pointing a firearm at an individual, a Level 6 felony.

-- Criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor.

-- Resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor.

Law enforcement officers were called to Castlebury Apartments on the city’s northeast side about 8:40 a.m. Tuesday on reports of a male subject waving a handgun around and firing shots in the playground area at the east end of apartment complex before fleeing into a building at 1206.

Police from the Greencastle Police Department and Putnam County Sheriff’s Office both arrived to find him exiting the building in question, with the gun reportedly tucked in the waistband of his pants. Benjamin complied when told to drop the firearm, and was taken into custody without incident.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Benjamin was asked if he had fired the weapon, and he said yes “but did not give a coherent answer to why he was doing so,” Greencastle Police Capt. Brad Hiatt noted in his incident report.

Given that the area of the parking lot and playground where Benjamin allegedly fired 13 shots from a 9 mm Glock 19 Gen 5 semiautomatic is in a heavily populated location frequented by many people, including children, Benjamin was booked in on a Level 5 felony enhancement of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.

Authorities reported that a no-trespass order banning Benjamin from the Castlebury Apartments premises was signed and in place at the time of the incident. That led to the trespassing charge.

Capt. Hiatt also noted that he recognized the suspect from an incident several days before when a dispute with a North Vine Street neighbor reportedly resulted in Benjamin showing the butt of a gun as an alleged warning.

Assistant Chief Ed Wilson told the Banner Graphic that GPD detectives found spent casings that matched the gun in Benjamin’s possession.

No injuries were reported to bystanders, police or to Benjamin.

“Great result to what could have been a very bad situation,” Wilson said. “We’re glad officers didn’t have to take any action we didn’t want to take. Any time we can resolve an incident like this without anyone getting hurt, we are happy.”

At one point in the incident, Benjamin reportedly pointed the handgun at a resident standing in the window of her apartment.

The probable cause affidavit also notes that during the process of being booked into the jail Benjamin “repeatedly refused to follow orders,”culminating with him having to be “forcibly placed into a restraint chair while he repeatedly attempted to kick officers and jail deputies.”

Given those alleged circumstances, Benjamin was also booked in for resisting law enforcement.

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  • Lock him up. He is a worthless POS.

    -- Posted by Queen53 on Thu, Mar 16, 2023, at 5:35 PM
  • There's no mention of it, but I wonder if this judge or anyone considered having him checked out by a professional? If there was any disussion in court I'm sure it would've been reported. Sounds to me like someone going through a mental health crisis.

    -- Posted by Raker on Fri, Mar 17, 2023, at 12:03 PM
  • Obviously, Queen53 has never read "How to win and influence people through positive thinking?"

    Don't you know Queen53 the measure we use to judge others will be used to judge ourselves?

    You are too quick to want to throw a person away. I feel sorry for you.

    -- Posted by donantonio on Fri, Mar 17, 2023, at 2:08 PM
  • Check out his Facebook page, there’s nothing wrong with that kid. He’s playing the game trying to make himself look crazy to get a lesser sentence. He’s nothing but trouble.

    -- Posted by Hmmmm! on Sat, Mar 18, 2023, at 12:14 PM
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