Pinal County Sheriff's Office releases name of man fatally shot by deputies on Friday

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office has released the name of a man who was fatally shot during a confrontation with deputies investigating a hit-and-run accident Friday.

San Tan Valley resident Bender Dass, 55, was shot near the intersection of Combs and Rittenhouse roads after he had accelerated his vehicle directly toward a responding deputy, who opened fire, the Sheriff's Office said.

Fifteen minutes prior, an on-duty Maricopa County sheriff's deputy reported a non-injury hit-and-run at the intersection of Gary Road and Empire Boulevard.

Dass was driving a 2014 Chevrolet truck when he rear-ended the victim's Volkswagen Jetta, pushing it into the intersection, according to authorities.

A lieutenant with PCSO and the MCSO deputy chased the truck after it failed to yield and instead fled northbound to Gantzel Road. The truck had extensive damage to its front and began weaving heavily at 35 mph, with parts of the vehicle falling off in the chase.

The driver, later identified as Dass, then pulled into a dirt field at Combs and Rittenhouse roads and began driving in circles in an attempt to get away from deputies, authorities said.

A PCSO sergeant sustained minor injuries when Dass rammed his truck head on into a fully stopped PSCO truck, authorities said.

Dass backed up and stopped as a PSCO lieutenant and two sergeants exited their vehicles to order him to surrender at gunpoint. Dass then accelerated his truck toward the sergeant, who was pointing his weapon at him, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said in a statement.

Fearing for his life, the sergeant and two other law-enforcement officials fired their handguns at the driver in an attempt to stop him before he drove into one of them, Babeu stated.

The truck quickly turned, stopping about 75 yards away in a dirt field. He was told to exit the vehicle, but did not respond, and less-lethal methods like beanbag rounds were fired at the windows of the vehicle so deputies could see inside, officials said.

Once they obtained access into the truck, they discovered Dass was dead, the office said.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Dass family, this is a terrible incident that we sincerely wished ended differently for Bender Dass," Babeu said in a statement Sunday evening, adding, "some of our best trained and experienced sworn sergeants and lieutenants were directly involved in this shooting."