by Debra Heine
An Ohio police chief says his access to Springfield’s police radio frequency was cut off after the beleaguered city became a political lightening rod over its Haitian immigrant crisis.
Tremont City Police Chief Chad Duncan told Blaze News’ Julio Rosas that Springfield has fallen into “absolute turmoil” since being inundated with up to 20,000 Haitian nationals, and said the lawlessness is spreading to nearby towns, including his own. Tremont City is located approximately eight miles north of Springfield.
Springfield has attracted national media attention in recent weeks over reports that some of the Haitians were stealing and eating pets and waterfowl, but residents say a more pressing issue has been their reckless driving.
Tensions between the Haitian population and native Springfield residents have been increasing since August of 2023, when a Haitian driving without a US license caused a school bus to roll over, injuring 22 children and killing 11-year-old Aiden Clark.
One Springfield resident estimated that there are four to five accidents a day caused by the Haitian immigrants, who are somehow able to drive around town without understanding basic traffic laws.
“The Haitians just don’t know our laws. They are causing accidents all the time. They just need to learn the laws of the road, they need schooling,” said Robyn Stultz, a 32-year-old mother whose pick-up truck hit by by a Haitian driver after he had made an illegal turn at an intersection. “My kids stay at home 95 percent of the time because the roads aren’t safe with these Haitian drivers,” the mother told the New York Post.
In December, Springfield grandmother Kathy Heaton was struck and killed by a Haitian immigrant driving with an expired license while she was collecting her garbage cans. Prosecutors declined to charge the 38-year-old driver, the Post reported.
Chief Duncan told the Blaze that the immigrants are often not licensed to operate vehicles, but Springfield appears to be protecting them from facing any real consequences for their reckless driving.
“People that shouldn’t be driving, they’re out there and they’re allowing them to drive,” Duncan remarked.
Duncan told Rosas about a recent traffic stop in Tremont City involving a Haitian national going 44 mph in a 25 mph zone.
“He didn’t even have a license,” he said, adding that it was the second time over a two-week period that he pulled the driver over so he had the individual’s car towed.
Duncan (pictured above) told Rosas that he didn’t think Springfield police would have towed the vehicle in that instance, and speculated why he thought that was the case.
“If you get two misdemeanors, you are subject to be deported,” he explained.
Duncan also said that his access to Springfield’s police radio frequency was cut off after the city was thrust into the media spotlight over the Haitian influx.
“We were able to hear them on the radio. They have decided to go silent. We don’t know what’s going on in the city,” Duncan said. “That happened the day they brought the State Troopers in to help them out.”
When asked why he believes Springfield Police shut off communications, Duncan speculated that it was to avoid accountability for their actions.
“When no one can hear what you’re saying, they don’t know what you’re doing so they don’t have to answer for it,” he explained.
Duncan noted that there was recently a threat at a Springfield school that he was unable to hear over the radio.
“I just caught wind of it from another chief that’s right next to the city,” he said.
Duncan told the Blaze that he thinks that the city’s leaders should have handled the influx of Haitian nationals differently.
“If they had taken the time, instead of worrying about the elites lining their pockets, and just took the time, this could have went so much smoother and been so much more beneficial to everybody involved,” Duncan stated.
When asked how he thinks the situation will turn out, he responded, “I really don’t know what the end result will be. But right now, it’s not good.”
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Debra Heine reports for American Greatness.
Photo “Police Chief Chad Duncan “ by The Blaze.
