‘Unfortunate situation’

Bogdan Vechirko’s attorney, Kevin DeVore, characterized it as an “unfortunate situation.”

On May 31, 2020, Vechirko was driving a tanker for Canton, Ohio-based Kenan Advantage when he encountered about 1,000 protesters who shut down Interstate 35W after the death of George Floyd.

Video footage showed Vechirko’s tractor coming dangerously close to the protesters before stopping. No serious injuries were reported.

Vechirko was pulled from the cab and beaten, suffering cuts to his face. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Vechirko’s wife said his cellphone, wallet and other items in the truck’s cab were stolen.

He was briefly jailed and released pending the conclusion of the investigation. Then in October, Hennepin County announced it was filing charges against Vechirko. None of the protesters who attacked Vechirko have been charged.

More than a year after the incident, however, Vechirko appears to be on the road to having all charges against him dismissed.

DeVore said his client entered into a continuance for dismissal agreement with Hennepin County prosecutors on June 18. Under the agreement, Vechirko’s felony charge of threats of violence and misdemeanor charge of criminal vehicle operation will be dismissed as long as he remains a “law abiding citizen” over the next year and completes his third and final restorative justice class.

“He ended up with a fair result,” DeVore said. “There’s no conviction. It’s a joint resolution between both parties.”

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it decided having Vechirko go through the restorative justice program was the correct way to resolve this case. According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, a restorative justice program recognizes that crime hurts a wide array of people and creates an obligation to make things right.

“After conferring with attorneys in our office, it was agreed that a restorative justice approach was appropriate for this case,” the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office wrote in a statement to Land Line. “Our office applies restorative justice as an alternative resolution to more than 30 cases annually. In restorative justice cases such as this … allow all parties involved to sit down and talk. Hopefully the parties can help understand the other side’s perspective and both parties can be satisfied with the outcome. In the present case, the third session has not yet occurred so comments about this particular matter would be inappropriate at this time.”

According to Hennepin County’s complaint filed in October, investigators said Vechirko told police he “wanted to scare the crowd out of his path.”

However, DeVore said there were no barricades when Vechirko entered the road and that he had no way to know what he was about to encounter.

“Like I said at very beginning, I was pretty surprised that they came out with charges,” DeVore said. “I think the evidence simply showed that Bogdan was just doing his job. That crowd couldn’t be seen like people think it could. He had very little reaction time. It was a very unfortunate situation. And he paid a pretty significant price for it … to get beat up and to get charged.”

As of press time, DeVore said Vechirko could still have to pay restitution in the case. DeVore said prosecutors have 60 days to file for restitution but he expects any amount to be “minimal.”

Although it appears Vechirko will be able to put the incident behind him as far as criminal charges are concerned, he no longer plans to work as a truck driver.

DeVore said the incident prompted Vechirko to leave the industry.

“He’s no longer working as a truck driver,” DeVore said. “He’s moving on to different opportunities. This incident kind of made him look in a different direction. It kind of freaked him out.” LL