HASTINGS, Minn. — A former Lakeville South High School softball coach has been charged in connection to an alleged theft of $15,000 from a Lakeville youth sports Booster Club.
According to Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, Eric Carlyle Heflin, 65, of Rosemount has been charged with three counts of theft by swindle from December 2018 through July 2020. During this time, Heflin was the school's varsity softball coach.
The criminal complaint says Lakeville police received a report in September 2020 about a possible misappropriation of funds by Heflin, who had been the Lakeville South softball coach since October 2018.
As the coach, Heflin was in charge of purchasing equipment for the team. According to the complaint, in an invoice submitted to the Booster Club, Heflin requested $2,365 in reimbursement for a project involving the school's softball field. In the invoice, Heflin said the work was done by ABC Concrete and Laser Grading, which was located in Farmington, but upon further investigation, it was found that this company didn't exist.
According to the criminal complaint, Heflin allegedly made multiple requests for funds that exceeded the actual cost of the service, and invoices for orders that had never been completed.
Heflin initially denied any knowledge of fraudulent transactions when interviewed by a detective over the phone, but later admitted to submitting a fake invoice on one instance, according to a press release from the Dakota County Attorney's Office.
Heflin is summoned to court and will make his first court appearance in the coming weeks.
