OKLAHOMA CITY — Charges have been dismissed against the man accused of killing Oklahoma County Deputy Bobby Swartz in 2022, after a judge ruled the defendant mentally incompetent to stand trial, KFOR reported.
Benjamin Plank had been charged with fatally shooting Swartz while deputies served an eviction notice at a southwest Oklahoma City residence, according to the report. Prosecutors alleged Plank ambushed Swartz during the incident, which took place in August 2022.
Plank was previously found unfit to proceed to trial and was committed to a state mental health facility. This week, a judge formally dismissed the case, citing Plank’s ongoing mental incompetence. He has been ordered to remain civilly committed at a state-run facility.
Swartz was a 25-year veteran of the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office. His family issued a public statement expressing outrage over the dismissal, calling it a systemic failure.
“There’s no other way to put it — this is a complete failure of the system on every level…” the family said. “This didn’t happen because the truth changed. It happened because the Department of Mental Health refused to follow court orders, and because the courts failed to hold anyone accountable for violating those orders.”
According to the family, court-mandated treatment and evaluations were delayed or ignored by the state for over two years, leading to the collapse of the case.
“When a state agency can ignore a judge’s orders and face no consequences, it sends a dangerous message — that the law only applies when it’s convenient,” the statement said. “It tells every victim’s family that their pain doesn’t matter. It tells every law enforcement officer that even when one of their own is murdered in cold blood, the system might still fail them too.”
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