SPOKANE - On Thursday May 18, East Valley High School Teacher Benjamin Hill was arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault after allegedly shooting at his ex-wife’s car.
At his court appearance, Hill’s bail was set at $100,000 and an arraignment hearing has been set for May 31. A no-contact order was also put in place along with an order to surrender any owned weapons.
The alleged incident occurred near the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Division in the early morning on May 18, as the victim was going to work. She was driving on Division when she heard a loud noise, describing it as a loud “pop” but was unaware of what it was at the time.
After she had parked, the victim found a bullet lodged into the side of her car, and matching casings were later found at the scene.
According to court documents, multiple eyewitnesses say they heard two shots, and saw a heavyset man wearing a hoodie and blue latex gloves get into a Subaru.
According to Spokane police, security footage provided to them supports those reports.
Officers found the Subaru at Hill’s home, and searched it to find three guns, a black jacket and blue latex gloves. One of the guns found in the car matched the caliber of bullet casings found at the scene.
Court documents state that Hill’s ex-wife has been the victim of several cases of shootings and property damage over the past year, some reported to police and other incidents unreported. She believes these cases were all committed by Hill.
Over the past year, the victim claims her house was shot at and had five flat tires according to the court documents. Her tires were never slashed, but instead, someone had put a pebble on the valve stem and put the cap back on, slowly releasing the air pressure but causing no permanent damage to the tires.
A statement, prepared by the victim to be read in court states as follows:
“I am worried for my safety, my children’s safety and how all of this is going to affect them. I am worried he will come back and finish what he started. He has traumatized me for the last year and a half. He is a master manipulator, and I am afraid he is going to manipulate my daughters. His behavior is escalating, and I do not trust that he won’t come after us and hurt my kids. I do not want to keep having to look over my shoulder because of him,” the statement said. “Not having to look over my shoulder last night, and knowing the person who has been traumatizing me for the last year was put away actually made it so I was able to sleep.”
Matthew graduated from West Virginia University-Parkersburg in 2011 with a journalism degree. He's an award-winning photographer and enjoys writing stories about people.
Reader Comments(0)