By Barry Porterfield
The results were not so good for a trio of Garvin County area law enforcement officers as they learned Thursday a suspect who spit on them last weekend had indeed tested positive for a potentially deadly disease.
It was Maysville resident Phyllis Dawn Benn, 29, who while being arrested this past Saturday spit on two county deputies and a Maysville police officer before making the claim she had the Hepatitis C virus.
Making the situation even worse was Benn not only claimed to have the dangerous disease but spit in an intentional attempt to spread it to them.
For that reason three of the 10 formal charges filed Monday against Benn were for assault with the intent to kill for each of the three officers involved.
Benn’s claim on the day of her arrest proved to be right as test results released Thursday showed she had tested positive for the virus.
That now means county deputies Jeff Poteet and Zac Henderson and Maysville officer Carlos Lopez will undergo their own series of blood tests over an undisclosed period of time.
No other specific details about the officers’ situation were available.
The incident involving Benn near her Maysville residence came after the county sheriff’s office was contacted early Saturday morning about a burglary from a Maysville store.
While investigating the theft, officers soon compiled a list of potential suspects, which included Benn’s name.
Information they received led officers to believe the stolen food items were at that time being stored under the elevated porch of Benn’s residence.
Checking it out those officers found an ice chest containing several items. It was later confirmed the items were involved in the burglary.
Reports show Benn denied taking the items or being involved in a burglary.
Instead, she claimed to find the items by the side of a nearby road as she was walking.
She was reported to expressed her desire to write out a statement as a way of providing her side of the story.
When officers returned a short time later to pick up the statement they found Benn visibility upset over her claim a family member had named her as the person responsible for the store burglary.
That led to a series of confrontations as the three officers attempted to gain control of a resisting Benn during the arrest attempt.
Benn then kicked and spit on all of the officers, as well as damaging a patrol car also by kicking.
Officers reported Benn then claimed while screaming that she had the Hepatitis C disease and hoped it would spread to them.
Benn remains incarcerated in county jail on a bond totaling more than $200,000 given during her initial court appearance Monday on the eight felony charges and two misdemeanors filed in the case.
