Jerrold Coates Charged With Second-Degree Murder After DUI Kills Terry Bennett

Jerrold Coates was charged with second-degree murder, described by NBC4 as second-degree murder "while armed," after his vehicle struck D.C. Police Officer Terry Bennett on Interstate 695 while Bennett was assisting another motorist. Officer Bennett, 32, was left unconscious on the roadway and was transported to MedStar Washington Hospital Center; an initial report says he died 15 days after the crash.

Body-worn camera captured the immediate aftermath of the collision, an officer is heard saying, "We have an officer down," and footage shows other officers lifting Bennett and rushing him toward an ambulance. Court video and traffic recordings shown to reporters and in court also depict flares in the roadway where Bennett was assisting a driver and traffic video that police say shows Coates speeding and "weaving in and out of traffic" before the impact.

NBC4/News4 obtained multiple videos after petitioning a judge under freedom-of-information laws. Among the recordings is a jail-cell interview dated Jan. 9 that shows Coates using a wheelchair, agreeing to be interviewed, and waiving his Miranda rights. In that interview, investigators questioned Coates about "hand controls he used to operate his car" and about his recollection of the crash.

Coates told police in the jail interview, "I just remember swerving, and then the police came and telling me whatever they’re telling me. I didn’t see no lights. I didn’t see no flares, no nets, no people. I didn’t see none of that," and later said, "I mean, alcohol do what it do. I wasn’t drunk enough to be drunk like I didn’t know what was going on and I hit an officer." He also told police he had been drinking before the crash but did not think he was impaired, and he said a car "cut him off" just before the collision.

Toxicology reported a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.16, which NBC4 described as "twice the legal limit," and marijuana was detected in Coates' system. Police described Coates as driving while drunk and speeding at the time of the crash; investigators allege his vehicle struck Bennett while Bennett was on the highway assisting another motorist.

An original arrest brief reported that Coates "laughed post-arrest" after being charged; the jail interview footage obtained by News4 shows him answering questions in a wheelchair on Jan. 9. The criminal complaint now filed as second-degree murder "while armed" has yet to be supplemented in the public record with a charging document that spells out the "while armed" allegation or specifies whether a weapon was recovered.

The bodycam, court, traffic, and jail videos now available to reporters form the core of the prosecution's publicly visible evidence as the second-degree murder charge proceeds; authorities transported Bennett to MedStar Washington Hospital Center after the crash, and his death 15 days later transformed the collision into a homicide investigation.