Tyreanna Bennett
A Columbus woman accused of assaulting and robbing another female has entered a guilty plea in Bartholomew Superior Court 1.
Tyreanna “Ty” Bennett, 20, of 222 N. Gladstone Ave., agreed to plead guilty to robbery as a Level 5 felony – a lesser offense than the original charge of robbery resulting in bodily injury as a Level 3 felony. In addition, prosecutors agreed in their plea bargain to dismiss a misdemeanor battery charge.
On June 8, Columbus Police Sgt. Courtney Plummer was sent to the area of Ohio and Cleveland streets after emergency dispatchers received a report of a battery.
When she arrived, Plummer found a visibly upset woman crying in the roadway who said she was attacked by two females, according to a probable cause affidavit.
While the victim said she had seen the two women before, the affidavit states the victim did not know their names. Nevertheless, the distraught woman said one of them pushed her down into rocks placed next to Cleveland Street., court affidavits state.
The officer wrote that she talked to a male witness who identified Bennett as the individual who assaulted the victim.
The witness said Bennett had attacked the victim first and struck her several times, but the victim did not fight back, the affidavit states. He then said that he watched Bennett walk away with some of the victim’s belongings, according to the court document.
When Bennett was located at her home, she admitted striking the woman, but claimed the victim struck her first, according to court documents. Her account was different from what the independent witness had stated, and Bennett had no marks, scratches or bruises to indicated she had been struck at all, the affidavit states.
With the exception of a wedding ring set, the officer wrote that all the property taken from the victim was found in Bennett’s home.
During questioning by Judge James Worton, the defendant said she has a mental health issue, as well as a dependency on drugs or alcohol. The woman who was accompanying Bennett when the fight erupted was not identified in court nor in court documents.
Bennett could be ordered to serve between one to six years in either a jail or prison when she is sentenced at 10 a.m. on Jan. 7.
