ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS: A Massachusetts homeowner will not face any criminal charges following the death of an intruder, who broke into his house and attempted to drill into his gun safe. Mark Bednarz, 56, died in Berkshire Medical Center on February 10, a day after he attempted to break into 73-year-old Thomas Granger’s residence on 57 Spring Street.
Adams police were called to Granger’s residence at around 2:20 pm on February 9 after receiving an alert from a security camera regarding a potential break-in. Upon their arrival, the officers found Granger with visible head injuries, including a deep laceration in the middle of his forehead. As police walked through the home, they discovered Bednarz in an unresponsive condition. They performed CPR on him until the paramedics arrived at the scene. Bednarz was rushed to a Berkshire Medical Center in North Adams before being transferred to another Center in Pittsfield, where he died the next day.
Who was Mark Bednarz?
Bednarz grew up in Adams, where he lived most of his life. Both his parents died just a few years before while his daughter died of a drug overdose in 2017. Bednaz also had a decades-long addiction to heroin and crack cocaine. He reportedly had a long list of felony charges and a slew of stints in prison. In 2007, he served over two and a half years in prison for possessing banned narcotics with the intention to distribute them in a school zone. As per the Berkshire Eagle, police records reveal that Bednarz’s run-ins with law enforcement were often contentious and sometimes violent.
Bednarz was most recently detained in March and November 2022 on suspicion of stealing a catalytic converter from a landscaping truck and copper pipes from a building on Weber Street, which led to a gas leak. Aside from drug offenses, Bednarz was accused of domestic violence, breaking a court order to avoid abuse, resisting arrest, assault and battery, theft, and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was previously engaged to Meg Brooks, whom he dated for nearly five years before their split in 2013.
‘The homeowner decided not to hit Bednarz’
During the investigation of Bednarz's death, police learned that Granger was parked down the street from his residence when he noticed a stranger entering his driveway. He immediately drove back to the front of his residence and entered through a side door. Once inside, he picked up a "small, souvenir-sized bat" that was placed close to the door and went farther inside the home. Just after a few steps, he ultimately came across Bednarz, who was attempting to drill into his gun safe. “Despite being armed with the small bat, the homeowner decided not to hit Mr Bednarz,” according to the prosecution on Tuesday, June 27. Granger’s presence shocked Bednarz, who then threatened him with a power drill.
A fight then broke out between the two men, who used a bat, a can of soup, and the power drill as weapons. The homeowner was able to physically restrain the suspect before he went to find help. He encountered Adams Police officers on the road nearby. Granger told the police he couldn’t find his phone during the struggle, according to WYNT. “The homeowner explained to police that he wanted to call for help but could not locate his phone during the struggle,” the district attorney’s office said. He was also rushed to Berkshire Medical Center, where he received medical aid for his injuries.
What was the cause of Bednarz’s death?
The Berkshire County District Attorney's office announced on Tuesday, June 27, that no charges will be pressed against Granger due to the cause of Bednarz’s death. “Neither the medical examiner nor the doctor who treated Mr Bednarz at Berkshire Medical Center could conclude that the injuries he sustained during the altercation with the homeowner caused his condition,” the district attorney’s office said, according to Mass Live. Authorities claim that Bednarz's test findings revealed the presence of fentanyl, opioids, cocaine, cannabis, and benzoylecgonine.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death to be, “Complications of acute fentanyl intoxication in the setting of recent cocaine used and mechanical asphyxia.” Bednarz’s friends and family revealed that he had an addiction to heroin and crack cocaine that led him to repeated stints in prison. Nevertheless, many remember him for his contagious laugh and creative works. “I liked him right up until the end,” Margaret Vigiard told the Berkshire Eagle, adding “But near the end, he was in bad shape. It was tragic. He got into those drugs and it just ruined him.”
