SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Forget the ducks and geese that are reportedly disappearing from public parks. In this besieged city, residents say the biggest problem by far is that rampaging Haitian migrants — unfamiliar with U.S. traffic laws — are turning the streets into combat zones.
And the result can be deadly. Springfield grandmother Kathy Heaton’s family experienced this firsthand on Dec. 1 — one day after her 71st birthday — when a Haitian migrant ran over her as she was collecting her trash cans.
And the driver got away without any problems.
“It was around 5:40 in the morning. The trash came early that day and we think that probably woke her up,” Kathy’s daughter-in-law, Mandy Heaton, told The Post.
“She was a woman who wanted to keep busy.”
Kathy was beaten so severely that both of her socks were left on the sidewalk as her body was thrown across the street. According to the police report, debris was strewn across the roadway and clumps of hair were found in the car’s cracked windshield.
But three days later, prosecutors decided that the driver of the car that hit her — 38-year-old Robenson Louis — would not face charges, even though Mandy said he was driving with expired license plates.
“They didn’t feel like it was anything punishable. We don’t know why. The only facts I know are that two prosecutors met and decided no charges should be filed. We were devastated,” Mandy said.
“I don’t think this man woke up that morning and started his day with the intention of harming anyone. But the fact was he did,” she added.
When contacted by The Post, Louis declined to comment on the accident.
Mandy and countless other Springfield residents believe the problem lies with the approximately 20,000 Haitian migrants who have poured into this city of just 60,000 in just a few years.
Long-term residents say the immigrants are being given temporary driver’s licenses without having to learn how to drive safely in the U.S. — or even know how to drive.
“There must be eight to ten accidents a day here,” a resident who did not want to be named told The Post.
“I’ve seen cars crash into buildings and sidewalks. I think everyone deserves help, but we shouldn’t make cars and driver’s licenses available until people know how to drive here safely.”
Residents have posted alarming images on social media showing cars falling into ditches, being vandalized at intersections, flying across the road into oncoming traffic and even driving through homes and businesses.
Such stories are consistent with what Mandy and her family say they see regularly — and leave them “constantly stressed and anxious” to do things as simple as walking across a parking lot, let alone taking her for a drive . young twins.
“Haitians are going the wrong way on one-way streets, making illegal U-turns in the middle of the roadway, damaging property by driving recklessly, some street signs have been removed and people have had their garages destroyed,” she said.
“They end up in a situation where they get a permit with minimal education and training about our laws and regulations here.”
Her mother-in-law is not the only fatal accident involving a Haitian driver.
In August 2023, 11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed when a 36-year-old Haitian driving without a U.S. driver’s license caused the school bus he was riding to overturn, crushing him beneath it.
At least twenty other children were hospitalized.
The driving problem has drawn so much attention that Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced this week that, in addition to $2.5 million in aid, he would send additional State Highway Patrol troopers to Springfield to help keep order on the roads .
On Tuesday, Mandy and her husband Chris delivered emotional testimony before the Springfield City Commission, asking lawmakers to pass “Kathy’s Law,” which would require all immigrants seeking an Ohio driver’s license to undergo the same tests and regulations as that of novice American drivers. .
“We will insist on enforcing the same restrictions that my seven-year-old twins, who lost their grandmother that night, will have to follow if they want to obtain a permit,” her husband said.
Springfield was thrust into the spotlight this week after claims that Haitian migrants were killing local cats, ducks and geese for food went viral – and were amplified by vice presidential candidate and Ohio Senator JD Vance, who said his office had been inundated with reports .
Local officials denied anything of the sort was going on — but an August police report claiming four Haitians were spotted stealing geese from a local park was obtained by the Federalist on Wednesday.
The city manager’s office told The Post that the report was unsubstantiated.
The claims became mainstream on Tuesday night when Donald Trump raised them during the presidential debate.
“In Springfield, they eat the dogs, the people who came in, they eat the cats, they eat the pets of the people who live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame,” he said, while the debate moderator insisted the city denied all claims.
Neither Clark County prosecutors nor the Ohio State Highway Patrol responded to requests for comment.
The Springfield sheriff’s office also did not respond to requests for information about reports of accidents involving Haitian immigrants.
