“Black Man Shot and Killed by Deputies After Calling Them for Help
Elroy Clarke called sheriff’s deputies for help but ended up shot and killed.

But the deputies showed up and attempted to arrest Clarke over a misdemeanor trespassing warrant stemming from an incident over the summer where he said he was attacked by a deputy after walking into a sheriff’s office building to discuss a previous case pertaining to him.

Online court records state that Clarke was transported to a local hospital that day, where he was arrested for trespassing. He then failed to show up in court, which led to the warrant being issued.

But on Oct. 23, Clarke called deputies for help in removing a tenant from his home, which is valued at $1.6 million and contains 11 rooms, according to the Charlotte County Property Appraiser website. Clarke was the owner of several businesses including a real estate company called Clarke International Real Estate Group.

Body camera video released Friday shows Clarke speaking to the arriving deputies, telling them that the tenant had been staying at his home for several months but apparently attempted to enter a portion of the home he was not allowed access without Clarke’s permission.

“I thought I could help him but I can’t,” he told the deputies. “He’s unstable and disturbing the peace.”

“He came into my home and I told him he can’t come in without permission, so he violated my space,” Clarke continued. “Then came and slammed my door. That’s destruction of property.”

But then, when deputies spoke to the tenant, Troy Johnson, they discovered Clarke had a bench warrant, which they confirmed through a dispatcher who dispatched more deputies to Clarke’s home to arrest him.

Clarke became agitated after deputies told him to put his hands behind his back, telling the deputies that his name was “Ben Dey” and not Elroy Clarke. But Ben Dey is a name he uses on his Facebook page” – NBC 2 | Posted by Thrillz