3 Indiana officers were justified in fatally shooting a man who drove at an officer, prosecutor says

BEDFORD, Ind. (AP) — Three southern Indiana police officers were justified when they shot and killed a man in September after he drove his car toward an officer who was on foot, a prosecutor says.

Lawrence County Prosecutor Samuel Arp II said he determined the Bedford officers were justified “in the preservation of life” when they fired on Daymon A. Hubbard, 47, The Herald-Times of Bloomington reported. The Bedford man died Sept. 28 at a hospital in the city about 80 miles (129 kilometers) south of Indianapolis.

The newspaper reported Arp said toxicology reports from blood taken at the time of Hubbard’s death showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.097%, above Indiana’s legal limit of 0.08% for drivers, and “indicated the presence of amphetamine.”

Hubbard’s mother had gone to the Bedford Police Department and told officers he had entered her residence that evening and threatened her, saying that “he would kill her” if she ever went to the police.

Officers accompanied Hubbard’s mother to her home to help safely remove her husband from the home.

Arp said officers found Hubbard driving through the home’s backyard but he refused their orders to exit his vehicle and became “verbally combative.”

After Hubbard drove from the scene, officers tried to pin his car with their patrol vehicles, but Hubbard backed up, striking a police car before he turned and accelerated toward an officer who was on foot, Arp said. Three officers then fired on Hubbard and his car.