LEBANON (TN) – Last Friday evening, Directed Patrol Cpl. Logan Hackett initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle driving erratically southbound on Hartmann Drive in Lebanon. As soon as the vehicle pulled over on the shoulder and as Cpl. Hackett began to exit, the driver took off at a high rate of speed leading deputies on a pursuit that eventually ended as the car crashed into a telephone pole on Beckwith Road. Prior to crashing, Mt. Juliet Police were able to successfully spike out the tires from the fleeing vehicle. Upon arrival by deputies, witnesses stated they observed a male running with a black bag behind a residence.

Moments later, the driver was located in the back yard hiding from deputies under an old boat. Jeremy Sharif Bender, (33) of Mt. Juliet, was taken into custody and charged with multiple crimes. Deputies found a large amount of US currency totaling over $2,000 in Bender’s wallet as well as three separate bags of a tan powder substance believed to be heroin, two bags containing suboxone strips and a digital scale with powder residue on it that was located in the black bag.

Inside the vehicle, was a clear bag that contained multiple small blue pills believed to be pressed fentanyl, a glass pipe containing crystal methamphetamine and a half bottle of Crown Royal.

“Mr. Bender is a convicted felon who has a history of drug violations and evading law enforcement,” stated Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan. “Thankfully, no one was injured and we were able to take more dangerous drugs off the street before they got into someone else’s hands. Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and is claiming lives every day because of its high risk of addiction and dependency.”

Bender remains in jail with a total bond amount of $78,500 and charged with multiple drug offenses along with driving under the influence, implied consent, evading arrest x2, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and leaving the scene. He is set to appear in court on November 10, 2021, at 9 a.m.