By Jerry Jordan, Editor
LEBANON, Tenn. – Eddie D’Hondt, Hendrick Motorsports spotter for Chase Elliott, is on his way to Nashville Superspeedway to spot for his driver this weekend after assault charges against him were dismissed for a lack of evidence by the Catawba County District Attorney’s Office leading to his reinstatement by NASCAR and the team.
D’Hondt was accused by Irene Elizabeth Young of assault in September 2020 when D’Hondt and “battery of an unborn child” in May 2021 for the same alleged incident from the year before. An incident that D’Hondt’s attorney said never occurred, but even more he and his family were just trying to have fun after renting jet skis from Young’s business.
“They tried to have a nice day on the lake and it turned into a horrible time in his life that he wants to put behind him,” attorney Heather Higgins of the law firm Helton, Cody and Associates in Hickory, N.C. told Kickin’ the Tires. “It was absolutely ridiculous and she put this man and his family through the wringer.
“You can look at the Yelp reviews on her business and see that she has done this before and she is likely to do it, again.”
According to Yelp, there have been multiple negative reviews about Young’s business What’s Up Watersports on Lake Norman.
As soon as the information about the case being dismissed made it to NASCAR, D’Hondt’s suspension was lifted and a release was sent out stating, “Edward J. D’Hondt, Sr.’s indefinite suspension has been
lifted. He has been approved to return to all NASCAR racing activities effective June 18, 2021.”
Hendrick Motorsports also released a statement, “We are pleased about the resolution of this matter and look forward to Eddie D’Hondt re-joining our team this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway.”
According to Higgins, Young summoned police after an argument and when they took no action she went down to the magistrate and swore out a “private warrant” making her claims. That was in September 2020. In January, Higgins filed a motion for discovery after Young had proclaimed that she had video of the incident. In her motion, Higgins said in addition to the alleged video, she also requested employee working records, employee timesheets and other information that would have indicated who else might have been witnesses but did not receive any records.
In the interim, Young went to a second judicial magistrate and filed a second “private warrant” which led to D’Hondt being arrested. Higgins said Young was unhappy with how long the legal process was taking and at a May court date there had still been no evidence turned over that D’Hondt had done anything wrong.
In June, a district judge signed a “motion to compel” order requiring any video and any other supposed evidence against D’Hondt to be provided to Higgins so that Higgins could adequately defend her client. The information and videos turned over were insufficient per the district attorney’s office to bring a case against D’Hondt, which led to them dismissing the case against D’Hondt.
“Mr. D’Hondt has continued to maintain his innocence and that no alleged incident ever occurred,” Higgins said. “And there was no dispositive evidence against him.”
Higgins said she has already begun the process of clearing D’Hondt’s record through a legal process known as expungement, which would eliminate any notice of the arrest and court case from his record. She said D’Hondt is also considering legal action against Young.
A phone message left for Young was not returned.
This is fantastic news for Eddie! I’m excited to see what he will accomplish at the Nashville Superspeedway. It’s great to see him back on track and pursuing his passion after everything he’s been through. Go Eddie!