WILMINGTON — It’s been one year since a Wilmington man was struck in a parking lot and left bleeding on the pavement at a bar only to be accused by Wilmington Police of instigating the events leading to his own demise.
Despite having video proof of the driver of the vehicle who struck Vincent Iventosch in the parking lot of Might as Well Bar and Grill, and the fact he did not stop and fled the scene, Wilmington Police never charged the man responsible.
Related: Family of man in parking lot hit-and-run asks Wilmington: Why no charges?
“The case, as you know was never closed and no arrests were ever made. To the best of our knowledge they never reprimanded the officers even slightly and the men who left Vince to die never lost a moment of their time,” mother of the victim Sandi Iventosch said.
The case was investigated by the WPD’s internal affairs division when the behavior of responding officers was called into question.
A recording captured officers interviewing Iventosch giving derogatory nicknames to witnesses including “semi-gay guy,” and “pain in the (expletive),” as well as an apparent attempt to elicit a statement of responsibility from Iventosch, suggesting to him that he was responsible for the incident.
According to WPD spokeswoman Linda Thompson, the responding officer Mark Anderson retired a few months after the incident. Upon further examination of city employment records, Anderson did in fact retire, only to be rehired as an auxiliary officer later.
There was some relief for Vincent Iventosch, according to his mother, the police did drop the police report that stated he was at fault.
“Had they not done that much, Vince would have been completely railroaded on a civil case. As it was, the insurance companies for the criminals that hit him settled. His medical bills were paid and he received a small cash settlement. So there is at least a close to the saga,” she said.
According to a statement from District Attorney Ben David last year, he declined to press charges for a hit and run because the drivers claimed they did not know they had struck Vincent.
“Not every accident is a crime. The offense of felony hit-and-run requires proof that the driver knew or should have known that he (she) hit someone AND that physical injury likely occurred,” David said, “Two of my senior prosecutors reviewed the case and determined that there was not sufficient evidence to prove all the elements of this offense beyond a reasonable doubt, so criminal charges were not warranted.”
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