A rollover crash and a missing driver who was later found dead in nearby woods have prompted accusations that Bennington police mishandled the investigation and, due to bias, failed to conduct an appropriate search for the Hispanic man.
Jordan Krawczyk spoke out about concerns with the Bennington Police Department’s actions, or lack thereof, in the case involving the death earlier this month of his friend Hans Heck, 35, of Bennington.
Heck, a U.S. military veteran, was born in Peru, according to a death certificate provided by the Vermont Department of Health.
“I believe he was racially profiled, and they just left him to die,” Krawczyk told the Bennington Selectboard during a video meeting this week.
“I think that they think it’s just going to go away, and I want the record to show that it’s not going to go away,” Krawccyk said. “He was an amazing person, and people shouldn’t be treated this way.”
VTDigger requested records and investigative reports Friday related to the motor-vehicle crash as well as the search for Heck, who police said fled after his Nissan pickup rolled over on Route 279 near the Austin Hill overpass on the evening of Friday, Jan. 8.
Bennington Town Manager Stuart Hurd, who oversees the police department, responded that the records and investigation “are not yet complete.”
Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette, in an email Friday, added, “When the investigation and reports are complete, they will be available for review. The Bennington Police Department is not hiding any information.”
The police chief, in an email to VTDigger he had also provided to the Bennington Banner in response to questions, called Krawczyk’s allegations of racial profiling “inappropriate.” He added, “Mr. Heck was involved in a motor vehicle crash and fled the scene in an effort to elude the police.”
The Bennington Police Department has been accused of racial bias before, and a lawsuit brought on behalf of a Black man stemming from a traffic stop was later settled for $30,000.
Bennington police have also faced accusations that they did not properly address or investigate racial harassment aimed at former state representative Kiah Morris, who was the lone Black woman in the Legislature when the tensions prompted her to resign in 2018.
Asked for any press releases the department issued related to that incident, Doucette provided one Friday, which was dated Monday, Jan. 11, when Heck’s body was located, three days after the crash. The release had not been posted to the department’s website under news releases or to the police department’s Facebook page.
In the release, police stated they responded to the crash on Friday, Jan. 8, at about 6:30 p.m. and witnesses reported the driver, identified as Heck, had fled the scene.
An officer and police K-9 tried to track Heck, according to the release, but the track was lost because of a “high fence and dangerous conditions” and the search and tracking effort were called off.
Officers did stay in the area for about two hours, the release added, and throughout the night officers patrolled nearby roads looking for Heck, with no luck.
On Sunday, police said, they were contacted by Heck’s friends and family, reporting that they hadn’t seen Heck since that Friday, the night of the crash. Police returned to the crash scene Sunday, Jan. 10, to try to find Heck, the release stated, and when it got dark and without any sign of him, the search was ended.
That Monday, Jan. 11, according to the release, more agencies were called in to assist in the search, as well as a helicopter from the New York State Police, That helicopter “located an area of interest” and officers went to that wooded area about 200 yards from Route 279 and found Heck’s body, the release stated.
Krawczyk, speaking this week to the selectboard, said Heck had ”lived with us” and had not returned to his home that Friday, Jan. 8, or Saturday, Jan. 9.
“It wasn’t until Sunday that I found out through social media that a gray Nissan truck with Florida plates had been in a bad accident,” Krawczyk said — and that fit the description of the vehicle his friend had been driving. “So I put two and two together and contacted the police.”
He said he reached out to police late Sunday morning. When police called him back that afternoon, they told him Heck had been in an accident “and they told me to tell him to come in, you know, turn himself in when he shows up.”
Krawczyk said he replied that his friend was missing and police needed to help find him.
“They told me that they’ve already spent a lot of time, resources and money on investigation, and that he would show up,” Krawczyk said.
Krawczyk said he persisted, and “pretty much called them and begged them” to look for Heck. On Monday, Jan. 11, police retrieved a pillow from the house to allow a search dog to obtain a scent from Heck to help track him, he said.
Heck’s body was found later that day in the woods off Route 279.
Krawcyzk expressed frustration to the selectboard that police had not provided records related to the crash and search investigation.
In an interview Friday, Krawczyk said police didn’t reach out Heck’s sister, Karen Heck, even though the truck was registered to her.
“She had to find out through friends what happened,” he said, and that was two days after the crash. “They (the police) didn’t even come to the house where he lived until Sunday, and that’s only because we begged them.”
Also, Krawcyzk said, police knew that Heck was wearing only one shoe when he went missing, because the other one was in the truck. He also said it wasn’t until he reached out Sunday that police started to search again.
“They showed up here Sunday only to see if he was here so they could arrest him,” Krawcyck said. “They didn’t even ask about his well-being.”
An online fundraiser through gofundme, established by Heck’s sister, Karen Heck, had been seeking to raise $10,000 to assist the family due to his unexpected death and to help pay for funeral and burial expenses. As of Sunday, $19,290 had been raised from 208 donors.
Heck’s death certificate states that he served in the U.S. military and was a “Persian Gulf Era” veteran. His cause of death as well as his manner of death both remain pending.
“He was so rare,” Karen wrote of her brother on the gofundme page. “He was well known for his infectious smile, and charming personality. He was always in the center of robust conversations, lots of laughter, and friends.”
His greatest love, she added, was his young daughter.
“From the moment she was born, she became his entire world,” Karen Heck wrote. “He was a proud, committed and loving father, and their bond was truly something special. Heaven truly gained an angel.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Bennington police accused of bias in not properly searching for missing man.