An illegal alien who was arrested after crashing into an Oregon couple, killing the woman and injuring the man, has fled to Mexico after the local authorities ignored an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer, and released him, the federal agency said.
Maldonado-Hernandez was arrested and charged with second-degree felony manslaughter, third-degree felony assault, and misdemeanor reckless driving on July 12 after crashing into a vehicle carrying Patrick Ator and his wife Janace Ator, ICE said in a news release. Janace was pronounced dead at the scene and Patrick was taken to the hospital with severe injures, while Maldonado-Hernandez received minor injuries.
“When it was all over, I woke up and looked over at my wife. She wasn’t talking,” Patrick told FOX12. “I felt her pulse and there was no pulse. In my head I said, ‘Lord, why don’t you take me too?’”
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Maldonado-Hernandez was racing another vehicle when he crashed into Patrick and Janace’s Ford at 10:56 a.m. The driver of the vehicle he was racing, 20-year-old Bailey M. Reeves, was also arrested and charged.
After Maldonado-Hernandez was released from the hospital, on the same day of the crash, he was booked into Washington County jail in Hillsboro, Oregon. On July 16, ICE placed an immigration detainer on the 20-year-old and on Aug. 8, he was released after posting bail, federal officials said in the Nov. 19 release.
Then, on Aug. 27, officials learned that Maldonado-Hernandez fled to Mexico with the help of three people to avoid prosecution in the United States. He currently remains at large.
The sheriff’s department said in a release that all three accused of assisting Maldonado-Hernandez have been arrested. Ernesto Garcia, 20; Alicia Scardina, 21; and Luis Maldonado-Hernandez, 28, are charged with hindering prosecution.
A immigration detainer requests that the other law enforcement agency notify ICE in advance of release and to hold the alien for a brief period of time so that ICE can take the person into custody in a safe and secure setting.
“It is real slap in the face to the victims friends and family when criminal aliens, in this case a man who has caused the death of a woman and severe injuries to her husband, are released into the community due to dangerous sanctuary policies,” Nathalie Asher, Seattle field office director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, said in a statement, adding, “How many lives have to be lost before politicians are more concerned about public safety than their own political agendas?”
“It is safer for everyone if ICE takes custody of an alien in the controlled environment of another law enforcement agency as opposed to visiting an alien’s residence, place of work, or other public area,” ICE said in the statement. “Arresting a criminal in the safety, security, and privacy of a jail is always the best option.”
Patrick and Janace Ator were married for 57 years and “totally happy,” Patrick told Fox.
