Grand jury clears 3 officers in shooting at Miami Twp. hotel

The officers discharged their weapons toward a vehicle that was being driven toward them. One of the suspects crashed his vehicle into two unmarked police vehicles.

The suspect, Antwaun Brown, was grazed by a bullet.

Since January, four people have been charged in the Jan. 27 shots-fired incident and manhunt at the Hawthorn Suites By Wyndam Miamisburg/Dayton Mall South.

UPDATE @ 4:25 p.m. (Feb. 6):

Two of the four suspects arrested in connection to the Hawthorn Suites officer-involved shooting were indicted by a Montgomery County Grand Jury today.

Richard Benton and Shaun Hill were each indicted on a single count of obstructing official business.

Both men are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on Thursday.

UPDATE @ 12:17 p.m. (Jan. 31):

Darion Stargell has been arrested and was taken into custody around 3:30 a.m. in the 600 block of North Broadway Street, according to jail records.

UPDATE @ 5:45 p.m. (Jan. 30):

Sheriff Phil Plummer, at an afternoon news conference, said authorities are still looking for Darion Stargell. They thought he was driving the pickup truck officers fired on when it rammed two vehicles in an effort to escape from the Hawthorn Suites parking lot.

Antwaun Brown is accused having driven the truck.

Plummer said authorities are still looking for Stargell, suspected of being part of a larger group investigators call “the Mall Boys,” responsible for bringing large amounts of heroin and other drugs in the area.

UPDATE @ 10:29 a.m. (Jan. 30):

The three suspects in the shots fired incident at Hawthorn Suites in Miami Twp. last week have been arraigned.

Richard Benton, 28, charged with obstructing official business, had his bond set at $25,000 after a not-guilty plea was entered for him.

Antwaun Brown, 31, charged with felonious assault, also had his bond set at $250,000 on his plea of not guilty plea.

Shaun Hill, 27, charged with obstructing official business, has posted 10 percent of his $50,000 bond and has been released from jail, according to court records.

UPDATE @ 8:17 a.m. (Jan. 27):

The three suspects taken into custody during Thursday’s incident at the Hawthorn Suites on Prestige Place have been identified as Shaun Hill, 27; Richard Benton, 28; and Antwaun Brown, 31.

They were listed as being arrested around 3:45 p.m. at the hotel, according to Montgomery County Jail records.

Brown, identified as the driver of a pickup officers fired upon when it was driven toward them, was booked on a preliminary charge of felonious assault.

RELATED: SIGNAL 99: Five times police have asked for serious backup

Benton was booked on a preliminary charge of obstructing official business.

Hill was booked on a preliminary charge of obstructing official business and two misdemeanor warrants.

INITIAL REPORT:

"This was drug related," Streck said.

The trio were sought on arrest warrants. Streck did not reveal details about the warrants.

"We had thought this is the area they would be in," he said. “Law enforcement was notified that two of the suspects had checked into the Hawthorn Suites.

RELATED: Smugglers beware -- 5 recent southwest Ohio drug busts

Surveillance was set up at the hotel on Prestige Place and police were going to arrest them as got out of a vehicle.

"The decision was made to take them while they were in the parking lot," Streck said.

When the suspects steered their vehicle toward the arresting officers, he said, the officers fired at the vehicle.

Police did not say how many shots are believed to have been fired.

The suspects did not fire at the officers, Streck said.

He also did not identify which officers discharged their weapons and one officer did suffer a minor leg injury, he said.

RELATED: Read about the task force involved in this case

The gunfire and vehicle incident prompted a “Signal 99” -- officer needing assistance. Police from Dayton, Miami Twp., Miamisburg, agents with the FBI, troopers with the Ohio Highway Patrol and other area jurisdictions soon joined agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the two drug units at the scene.

Credit: Courtesy/Phillip Severah

Credit: Courtesy/Phillip Severah

At least two of the males are from the area, he said. 
He would not comment on whether drugs or suspected drugs were recovered at the scene. 
Streck also said officers with an internal affairs unit is on scene because of the shots that were fired by law enforcement officers.

Additional police were sent to the area after a “Signal 99” was called — officer needing assistance.

Click here to download our free mobile app for breaking news and news updates.