Off-duty Hermitage Precinct Officer Dustin Maynard was fatally injured Tuesday afternoon after he lost control of his 2007 Honda motorcycle, ran a red light at the intersection of Lafayette Street & 4th Avenue South, and collided with a pickup truck.

Maynard, 28, a three-year MNPD veteran, died shortly after arriving at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Maynard was riding the motorcycle westbound (toward downtown) on Lafayette Street when he lost control at the intersection. The motorcycle collided with a 2000 Chevrolet pickup truck being driven by Eric G. Cooper, 42, of Old Hickory, who was pulling into the intersection from 4th Avenue. Cooper was not injured.

Maynard was assigned to the Hermitage Precinct’s overnight shift Flex Unit.

“By all accounts, Officer Maynard was a well-liked, conscientious officer who proudly served Nashville’s citizens,” Chief Steve Anderson said. “This is a sad afternoon for the men and women assigned to the Hermitage Precinct and the police department as a whole.”

Fatal Crash investigators this morning arrested Mohammed M. Islam in connection with last Saturday night’s hit and run collision at 4th Avenue South and Cameron Street that killed homeless pedestrian Victor Mitchell, 56.

Islam, 52, of Elysian Fields Road, is charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death and tampering with evidence.

Following up on a tip to Crime Stoppers and information developed by Fatal Crash investigators, South Precinct detectives this morning located the 1990 Honda Accord that struck Mitchell parked outside a building at Coventry Square Apartments on Elysian Fields Road. Traffic Officers Jeff Brown and Burl Johnson located Islam at the apartment complex. He admitted his involvement in the collision.

The investigation shows that Islam stopped briefly after striking Mitchell and pulled him from the roadway. He left the scene as emergency medical responders were arriving.

The tampering with evidence charge concerns Islam’s replacement of the Honda’s windshield, which was badly damaged by the impact with Mitchell.

Islam is jailed in lieu of $120,000 bond.

Rebecca Benson has been formally served with a vehicular homicide warrant charging her with killing a Franklin woman while traveling the wrong way on I-65 early Wednesday.

Benson, 22, is continuing to recover at Vanderbilt University Medical Center from injuries received in the crash. Her bond is set at $250,000.

Benson is accused of driving drunk when her 2006 Lexus RX 330 collided with a Chevrolet van being driven by Steffanie Leonard, 29. Leonard died at the scene of the 4 a.m. crash.

Benson’s activities and whereabouts prior to the collision remain under investigation. Anyone with information about this aspect of the case is urged to contact the police department’s Traffic Unit at 862-7738.

Traffic Unit officers are swearing out a vehicular homicide warrant against 22-year-old Rebecca Benson in connection with this morning’s fatal crash on I-65 near the Wedgewood Avenue exit.

The investigation shows that Benson, driving a 2006 Lexus RX 330, was traveling south in the northbound lanes of I-65 at 4 a.m. when she crashed head-on into a northbound 2000 Chevrolet Ventura van. The driver of the van, Stephanie Leonard, 29, of Perkins Drive in Franklin, died at the scene. Benson, of Hickory Club Drive in Antioch, was critically injured. She is being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Benson got onto the interstate at Broadway before crashing a very short time later. First responding officers found that Benson smelled of alcohol. She acknowledged drinking prior to the collision.

Benson will be arrested upon her discharge from Vanderbilt.

North Precinct detectives are pursuing leads in Thursday's targeted fatal shooting of convicted felon James Nicholson III, 33, outside Givens Community Market at 28th Avenue North and Clifton Avenue.

Nicholson, who was armed with a handgun, was standing alone outside the convenience store when the suspect calmly walked up to him and fired several shots at close range just after 2 p.m. Nicholson was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he died.

The gunman is a black man with a stocky build. Detectives have also identified a vehicle of interest, a gray older model General Motors sedan.

Anyone with information on the person responsible for Nicholson’s murder or who recognizes the suspect/vehicle of interest in the attached surveillance photos, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 74-CRIME. Citizens can also send an electronic tip to Crime Stoppers by texting the word “CASH” along with their message to 274637 (CRIMES) or online at www.nashvillecrimestoppers.com. Persons who contact Crime Stoppers by phone, text or Internet can remain anonymous and qualify for a cash reward.

Nicholson, of April Lane, has previous aggravated assault, cocaine possession and unlawful weapon possession convictions.

The man killed after losing control of his motorcycle on Pettus Road in South Nashville at 2:40 p.m. Wednesday is identified as Lonnie Shelton, 37, of Tusculum Road.

Shelton was riding a 2005 Yamaha in the 6100 block of Pettus Road when he failed to negotiate a curve. Shelton and the motorcycle landed on a concrete culvert. He died at the scene.

Excessive speed appears to be the primary contributing factor in the crash. There was no evidence at the scene of alcohol or drug involvement.

The driver of the Nissan Altima involved in Tuesday’s 9:50 a.m. collision with a tractor-trailer on Clarksville Pike died that afternoon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.  The victim is identified as James C. Hampton, Jr., 33, of Old Hickory.

The preliminary investigation shows that the tractor-trailer had just entered Clarksville Pike from Briley Parkway when the Nissan made a left turn in front of the truck.  The driver of the rig, Justin H. Wilson, 25, of Olney, Illinois, was not injured.

The man killed in Sunday morning’s single car crash on Ocala Drive in South Nashville is identified as Pavel Janecka, 25, of Hickory Trace Drive.

Janecka was driving a 1997 Ford Taurus in the 300 block of Ocala Drive when the car traveled off the right side of the road, struck a tree and rolled over.  Police were notified of the crash at 2:45 a.m.

Janecka died at the scene.  His brother told officers the victim had been drinking at a party prior to the crash.

A medical issue may have caused the death of an elderly Nashville man whose SUV traveled off McCrory Creek Road near Jonesboro Drive Wednesday morning.

James Bate, 75, was driving his 2005 Jeep Liberty eastbound on McCrory Creek Road when the SUV traveled across the westbound lane and down an embankment at 10:20 a.m.

Bate, of Boulder Park Drive, died on the scene. He was wearing his seatbelt and did not appear to have suffered serious injuries from the crash.

The man killed in a three-vehicle collision Saturday night on Harding Pike at Brook Hollow Road is identified as Ernest Adams, 28, of Sonya Drive.

Adams was driving his 2000 Honda Accord westbound on Harding Pike when the eastbound driver of a 1996 Infinity Q30, Mulki Oday, 34, crossed over into oncoming traffic and struck Adams at 8 p.m. The Infinity and Accord were then hit by the driver of a westbound Ford Taurus, Colby Herbert, 19.

Adams was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he died. Oday, of Lincoya Bay Drive, was also transported to Vanderbilt with critical injuries. Oday’s right rear passenger, a three-year-old girl in a child safety seat, was transported to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Herbert, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was transported to St. Thomas Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The investigation continues into what caused Oday to cross the center turn lane. There was evidence of alcohol in the Infinity. Toxicology testing of Oday’s blood is pending to determine whether alcohol played a role in this crash.