Hollenbeck case will likely be reopened, chief says

Jeremiah Hollenbeck

FRANKLIN, N.H. - The chief of police in the town where a Lebanon man got probation after pleading guilty to leaving four children in a stifling hot car two years ago said the case will most likely be reopened after the same man got probation in another child endangerment case in Massachusetts last month.

Jeremiah Hollenbeck, 30, of 678 River Road, was arrested June 12 and charged with possession of heroin, child endangerment and failure to stop for pedestrians in a city crosswalk in Lawrence, Mass., after a concerned citizen spotted Hollenbeck allegedly buying heroin from a female in the city. When police arrested him a few moments later after he failed to stop for a pedestrian in a sidewalk they found Hollenbeck with his two 2-year-old twins in the back seat. Hollenbeck allegedly had 10 grams of heroin in his possession.

A week ago today Hollenbeck - over objections from prosecutors who sought a conviction - had those cases continued without a finding in Lawrence District Court and was placed on probation for one year along with other conditions including submitting to a 30-day residential drug program and complying with all DCYF orders.

However, Hollenbeck was on a suspended sentence based on two years of good behavior for pleading guilty to felony charges in connection with a Franklin, N.H., incident in July 2013 in which he left four young children, including the same then-infant twins, in a hot car while he shoplifted from the Franklin Family Dollar as temperatures rose to 97 degrees.

Franklin Police found the two infant twins, along with two other children, then 5 and 9, in heat-related distress inside the car, estimating they'd been there 10 to 15 minutes.

"He was charged with a felony in the case, so it will likely go back to Merrimack County Superior Court," Franklin Police Chief David B. Goldstein said on Thursday. "I know if it was up to me, it would be."

Goldstein said officials were already concerned with the Hollenbeck case as he had failed to appear in Franklin Circuit Court recently as part of his complying with conditions from the 2013 case.

He said with Hollenbeck's probationary terms broken, prosecutors may seek a grand jury indictment or move directly to a new arraignment in Superior Court.