Beaver man accused of harassing family charged with hate crime

BEAVER — A 56-year-old Beaver man has been charged with hate crimes for allegedly stalking a family that lives in the residence above his apartment.

Heath Loren Franklin was charged Tuesday in 5th District Court in one case with stalking with a weapon, a second-degree felony; aggravated assault and two counts of child abuse, third-degree felonies; and assault, a class A misdemeanor. Each charge comes with a victim targeting penalty enhancement if convicted.

Franklin was also charged in a second case on Tuesday with eight counts of prohibited dangerous weapon conduct, two third-degree felonies and six class A misdemeanors; driving on a denied license, a class C misdemeanor; and three traffic infractions.

The investigation began on Oct. 16 when Beaver County sheriff's deputies were called to investigate Franklin for "disorderly conduct, making racial comments, and harassing neighbors," according to charging documents. During their investigation, deputies "became aware of a previous alleged assault involving a juvenile victim," the charges state.

Investigators reviewed video taken from a doorbell camera on Oct. 2 that showed Franklin knocking a phone out of the hand of a child and then throwing a rock at the toy car the child was sitting in, according to the charges. He is then seen harassing two other children in the front yard, the charges state.

"The second video was also recorded by a Ring doorbell camera. In this video, Franklin could be heard yelling racial slurs toward the front door of the residence where the children lived," the charges state. "In this video, he is seen messing with the kids' toys on the front porch. Note that he has no business on this porch, as he has his own separate entrance into the home."

Prosecutors say Franklin lives in the basement portion of the split-level residence and has a separate entrance from the upstairs living area occupied by the victims.

In the second case, Franklin was pulled over for allegedly running a stop sign on Nov. 9 and driving on a denied license, according to a police booking affidavit.

When a deputy asked if there were any weapons in his truck, "He stated that there was not and that he was not allowed to own firearms due to him being a felon," according to the affidavit.

The deputy found nunchucks behind the passenger seat and "a baseball bat with a strap bolted onto the end of it," the affidavit states. "A criminal history was run on Heath, and it was confirmed that (in 2020) he was convicted of a felony for aggravated harassment."

Based on additional comments Franklin made to deputies, search warrants were served on his residence, vehicle and storage units where "a combat-style fixed blade knife," "a .22 rifle, an older model double barrel shotgun, two combat style fixed blade knives, brass knuckles, and an ammo can with various ammo" were recovered, according to the affidavit.

Related topics