A Lake County sheriff’s deputy was injured Wednesday morning and the suspect he was trying to arrest died later in the day after fleeing and crashing into two other vehicles.
The deputy, who was assigned to the Warrants Unit, spotted 27-year-old Sean Christopher Bentley, of Leesburg, at a convenience store at State Road 44 and County Road 437 in Sorrento. But when the deputy attempted to arrest Bentley on a warrant for failing to appear in court on a previous fleeing and eluding charge, he got in his vehicle and a struggle ensued, a Lake County sheriff’s report states.
The deputy deployed his taser but Bentley put his 2018 Dodge in drive and speed away from the minimart. The deputy, who was still partially inside the vehicle, suffered leg injuries when he was drug by Bentley’s vehicle, the report says.
Bentley fled onto CR 437 for a brief period of time before crashing into the back of a 1998 dump truck driven by 32-year-old Anselmo Callwood, of Orlando. Bentley’s Dodge then slammed into a trailer being pulled behind a 2013 Chevy pickup driven by 32-year-old Raffington Taylor, of Kissimmee. Neither Callwood nor Taylor were injured, a Florida Highway Patrol report states.
Bentley fled on foot from the crash scene on CR 437 near Walkabout Ranch Road but was apprehended by deputies a short time later in the Eagle Dunes subdivision. Shortly after being secured, he had a medical episode and EMS was called to the scene, the sheriff’s report says.
Bentley was transported to Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares, where he later died. It is unclear if alcohol was involved in the crash, which still is under investigation, the FHP report says.
