A Haitian man pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges stemming from a hit-and-run crash on Indianapolis’ northwest side that killed a 9-year-old boy and injured his younger brother — a case that federal immigration authorities have moved quickly to turn into a national talking point while the man sits in the Marion County Jail on a $50,000 bond and an immigration detainer.
The crash occurred on October 4 in Indianapolis.
Police say the two boys were playing outside an apartment complex when they were struck, and that the driver stayed only briefly before leaving, Hot 100.9 reported. Investigators used video and automated license-plate-reader cameras to identify and track the SUV, according to WRTV, and Lawrence police arrested Bazil at a car wash about two hours after the crash. His initial hearing, first set for Wednesday, was pushed back a day after his attorney told the court he needed an interpreter, according to the station.
The boy who died was Roland McLain III — RJ to those who knew him.
He was struck Sunday afternoon, October 4, in the 6700 block of Eagle Pointe Drive North, near Interstate 465, and died later at a hospital, WRTV reported. The Indianapolis radio station Hot 100.9 reported that the crash came just hours before RJ was to celebrate his birthday. His 6-year-old brother was also hurt and has since been released from the hospital.
The grief was plain in the courtroom. Members of RJ’s family and friends attended the hearing wearing blue shirts because blue was one of the boy’s favorite colors, WRTV reported. “I’m hurt. I’m outraged. I feel like it’s an injustice,” the boy’s grandmother, Laquisha Moore, told the station.
Franck Bazil, 31, appeared for his initial hearing and faces two counts: failure to remain at the scene of a crash resulting in death, and failure to remain at the scene of a crash resulting in moderate or serious bodily injury, according to WRTV, the ABC station in Indianapolis, whose reporter John Herrick covered the hearing.
He has not been charged with intentionally causing the boy’s death, and under the law he is presumed innocent unless and until he is convicted.
Bazil is being held on a detainer lodged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A detainer is a request from ICE asking a local jail to keep someone in custody for up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release so federal agents can take them into custody.
ICE did not stop at the detainer.
In a written statement, the agency said it had lodged the hold on October 4 for “Franck Anderson Bazil, a criminal illegal alien from Haiti,” and asserted that he “illegally entered the United States on January 7, 2024,” and “was later released into our country under the Biden administration.” ICE’s account of how and when Bazil entered the country, and of his release, could not be independently verified, and none of it was part of the court proceeding, which dealt only with the state traffic charges.
The agency presented the case as proof of its enforcement strategy.
“The safest way to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our streets is by lodging arrest detainers,” the statement said, adding that “7 of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE.” It ended on an explicitly political note: “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, our message is clear: criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in our country.”
Bazil remained in custody at the Marion County Jail on Thursday. Even if he posts the $50,000 bond on the state charges, the ICE detainer means he would not walk free; federal authorities have signaled they intend to take him into immigration custody and pursue his removal.
His case now moves on two tracks at once, a county criminal court that has yet to weigh any evidence of what happened on Eagle Pointe Drive North, and a federal system that has already named him and announced what it wants done with him.
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Man accused in Indianapolis fatal hit-and-run pleads not guilty, gets $50K bail
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