Thread: LA. 2 Killed, 41 Injured in Crash Involving Unlicensed Illegal Alien Bus Driver

The police said they believe all the workers were in the US illegally, so I think artist is right, it's just the new PC term for illegal aliens used by some media who prefer to second guess the police.

Another trick to draw away attention to the crimes illegals commit. Oh the article says foreign national, oh, I guess that is a foreigner legally living here. Another sleaze move to keep the outrage response down & deceive the citizens. And basically another step to make illegals living in this country an accepted done deal. the medias are told to do this by the gov't.

. . . No one answered the door Monday morning at the Jefferson address for the bus company. Christian Lombardo, the man listed on the secretary of state's website as the company's registered agent and sole officer, told a reporter that he was still gathering facts. . .

. . . The trooper noted in the citation that Amaya-Rodriguez "never had" a driver's license but did have a passport with him. Amaya-Rodriguez is supposed to appear in Jefferson Parish court Oct. 5. . .

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/..._monitori.html

Louisiana Home Builders Association keeping eye on state police probe of Sunday’s deadly I-10 crash

STEPHANIE RIEGEL
AUGUST 29, 2016



State police are continuing their probe into Sunday’s multivehicle accident on Interstate 10 near LaPlace involving a bus full of construction workers who were headed to Baton Rouge.

There’s still no word today on who hired the workers, most of whom were reportedly foreign nationals, or the bus driver, Denis Yasmir Amaya Rodriguez, a Honduran national who doesn’t have a driver’s license and told state police he is in the country illegally.

A state police spokesperson says details remain sketchy about the cause of the accident and the circumstances surrounding those involved. Initial reports on Sunday said the bus passengers were coming to Baton Rouge to do flood cleanup work. Earlier today, however, NBC News reported that the bus passengers “were construction workers unrelated to flood relief efforts.”

Whatever the circumstances, officials at the Louisiana Home Builders Association are watching the investigation develop, and say it’s a cautionary tale for those who would hire undocumented workers, inadvertently or otherwise.

“This is a tragic loss,” says Ken Jones, past president and spokesman of the LHBA.

Jones says given the amount of rebuilding going on in the area it’s critically important for contractors to require legal documentation from any subcontractors and for all the employees they hire.

“We certainly need plenty of workers, especially to do all the tear-out and muck-out of these flooded homes,” he says. “But there is no reason to relax the rules and regulations because when that happens, often, people get hurt.”

LHBA officials say they hope state police soon get to the bottom of who is behind the accident.

“We are very anxious to find out who these guys are, what they were doing and what the driver was doing in this country illegally and without a license,” Jones says.

The Jefferson Parish company that owns the bus involved in the crash, Kristina’s Transportation, is owned by Christian Lombardo, also of Jefferson Parish. He did not return calls today seeking comment.

https://www.businessreport.com/artic...ndays-10-crash

Homeland Security probing bus company in fatal I-10 crash



A man answers the door at the apartment complex in Metairie, Monday, August 29, 2016 where Denis Yasmir Amaya-Rodriguez lived, the 37-year-old Honduras man authorities say drove a bus that crashed into a fire truck Sunday (Aug. 2, killing two people - including St. John Fire District Chief Spencer Chauvin - and injuring 33 others. The man said he lived with Amaya-Rodriguez, but didn't know much about him. Neighbors say six men lived in the three-bedroom apartment. (Photo by Ted Jackson, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

Ted Jackson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

By Beau Evans, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Email the author
on August 29, 2016 at 3:37 PM, updated August 29, 2016 at 5:32 PM


Federal and state authorities were investigating Monday (Aug. 29) a transportation company apparently run out of a Jefferson Parish house that they say owned the party bus that plowed into several vehicles on Interstate 10 on Sunday, killing two and injuring 33 others.

The bus, owned by Kristina's Transportation LLC/AM Party Bus, was driven by Denis Yasmir Amaya-Rodriguez, a 37-year-old Honduran man who had no driver's license and had been cited for the same offense earlier this month. He remained in jail Monday, facing criminal charges in the wreck, which killed St. John Fire District Chief Spencer Chauvin.

Christian Lombardo, who is listed on secretary of state records as the company's registered agent and sole officer, said over the phone Monday that he was still "gathering facts" and was not prepared to comment.

No one answered the door of an Old Jefferson residential house in the 700 block of Canton Street listed as the company's address. But neighbors said the house is occupied by Lombardo, a man in his 20s who they said has stowed possibly two party buses -- one of which they said has the words "party bus" scrawled on its flanks -- in his driveway off and on over the past year. Neighbors also said Lombardo sells cars out of his backyard.

The residents seemed only slightly surprised that authorities said the 2002 El Dorado National bus owned by Lombardo's company had found its way into the hands of an unlicensed driver.

"I thought he'd have a little more sense than that," neighbor Gerald Barr said of Lombardo. Barr said he and his wife have lived at their home on Canton Street for over 50 years.

Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Trooper Melissa Matey said the agency is investigating the firm that owned the bus, though she declined to say whether police is also investigating Lombardo or any particular individual tied to the firm.

She added that special agents with the Department of Homeland Security are assisting in the investigation.

Two agents appeared at Lombardo's house on Monday morning, as did investigators with the state's Department of Transportation.

A "Come and Take It" flag, symbolizing the Texas Revolution from Mexican control in the 1830s, flew outside Lombardo's house. Neighbors said his father lives in Texas and owns the house, which the Jefferson Parish Assessor's Office lists as owned by Guy Lombardo. No one answer a phone number listed for Guy Lombardo in Sugarland, Texas.

Barr said he'd last seen one of the buses at Christian Lombardo's house a couple of months ago, when "it was being gutted." Barr said the bus "didn't look in too bad shape."

Barr said Christian Lombardo calls himself a car salesman and keeps cars in his yard that people occasionally come to see, apparently to buy. Barr also noted past run-ins between neighbors and Lombardo, including once when a pit bull living at Lombardo's house bit a neighbor.

But more often than not, Barr said, Lombardo is nowhere to be found.

"He goes off for weeks at a time and we don't know where he goes," Barr said. "Either that, or he's just ignoring me."

Immigration officials eyeing driver in fatal bus crash
Immigration authorities are monitoring the arrest of Denis Yasmir Amaya-Rodriguez, the 37-year-old Honduras man authorities say drove a bus in a fatal crash Sunday (Aug. 2.

Driver has lived at Metairie complex for 6 months

No one at an apartment complex in Metairie where Amaya-Rodriguez lives seemed to know much about him. A man who answered the door at Amaya-Rodriguez's unit and who called himself his roommate said the driver had been living there for about six months.

The roommate said four people -- including himself and Amaya-Rodriguez -- lived in the three-bedroom apartment, though another resident said as many as six men may be living there. The apartment complex's manager confirmed Amaya-Rodriguez is one of only three men listed on the lease.

Frank Richter, a resident at the complex, said most of the roughly 40 people who live there leave in the morning for construction jobs and return in the evening, keeping to themselves whenever there.

Like others at the complex who were aware Amaya-Rodriguez lived there but did not know him, Richter expressed shock that he had been behind the wheel of the party bus during the fatal crash.

"What I don't understand is how this company let a man drive a bus without a driver's license," said Richter, a 75-year-old Entergy retiree. "That's hard for me to understand."

Bus crash driver arrested and neighbors talk as officials investigate

Sunday's fatal crash began when State Police and St. John the Baptist Parish firefighters were called around 6:40 a.m. to a single-car crash on I-10 west near the Belle Terre Boulevard exit ramp in LaPlace.

As they investigated the accident, the bus driven by Amaya-Rodriguez struck the left side of a St. John Parish fire truck that was blocking the right lane. The bus then hit a 2012 Toyota Camry, sending it into two other vehicles, before striking Chauvin and two other firefighters who at the time were standing near the interstate's guardrail.

The impact threw all three firefighters over the railing and down 30 to 40 feet in the water below the interstate.

Chauvin, 36, was pronounced dead at River Parishes Hospital, Matey said. Two other firefighters, 35-year-old William Mack Beal of Gonzalez and 32-year-old Nicholas Saale of Ponchatoula, were hospitalized with moderate and critical injuries, respectively.

One of the Camry's four occupants, 21-year-old Jermaine Starr of Moss Point, Miss., was pronounced dead at the scene, Matey said. The other three were hospitalized with serious-to-critical injuries.

Authorities have thus far been able to identify 24 people as passengers aboard the bus driven. They were heading to the Baton Rouge area to work on flood recovery efforts, but were not volunteers, according to Louisiana State Police.

All 24 were taken to area hospitals with "minor to moderate injuries," she said. Authorities are working with the different agencies that responded to the crash to identify whether additional bus passengers beyond the 24 were taken to hospitals after the crash, Matey said.

Amaya-Rodriguez was previously cited Aug. 5 of this year for driving without a license on I-10 westbound near Clearview Parkway, court records show. A state trooper stopped a 2000 Nissan Frontier truck driven by Amaya-Rodriguez about 8:10 p.m. because the car's temporary license plate tag was not visible, according to the traffic citation issued.

He is currently being monitored by United States Customs and Immigration Enforcement, which "has issued a request that local law enforcement notify ICE prior to releasing" Amaya-Rodriguez, officials said in a statement Monday. The statement said undocumented immigrants "convicted of crimes involving violence are among ICE's highest priority for removal from the country."

The trooper noted in the citation that Amaya-Rodriguez "never had" a driver's license but did have a passport with him. Amaya-Rodriguez is supposed to appear in Jefferson Parish court Oct. 5.

https://www.businessreport.com/artic...ndays-10-crash

Again Americans are attacked by Illegals that Obama and American billionaires are forcing on us. How many times have you read about crime by Illegals and so called asylum seekers in America and Europe? Many very rich like George Soros are working to overthrow America. Soros spent $33 million to keep riots going in Ferguson and these billionaires are behind the flood of Muslim north Africans arriving in USA. I fight this by giving to ALIPAC because they get results. Work to stop the destruction of America.

Driver in fatal LaPlace bus wreck had 5 previous citations for lacking license

Company that hired bus co-owned by a St. Tammany constable and Arkansas state rep

• BY JIM MUSTIAN AND RAMON ANTONIO VARGAS | Advocate staff writers
• PUBLISHED AUG 29, 2016 AT 7:25 PM | UPDATED AUG 29, 2016 AT 7:53 PM
• (4)

• Advocate staff photo by MATTHEW HINTON

At least 2 are dead and 41 injured in a 4 vehicle accident including a charter bus on Interstate 10 Westbound near LaPlace, La. Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016.

Denis Amaya Rodriguez

Spencer Chauvin

• Advocate staff photo by MATTHEW HINTON

St. John Fire District Chief Spencer Chauvin died Sunday morning while aiding people injured in a car crash on Interstate ten when a bus crashed caused an accident with other vehicles in LaPlace. A flag is at half-mast at station #55 where Chauvin served in LaPlace, La. Monday, Aug. 29, 2016.

Jim Mustian

Ramon Antonio Vargas


A company owned by a St. Tammany Parish constable and an Arkansas state representative hired the bus full of laborers that caused a fatal accident on Interstate 10 near LaPlace on Sunday, a co-owner of the company said, and the driver not only lacked a license but had racked up five previous citations for that, records show.

Federal authorities on Monday issued an immigration detainer for the bus driver, who lacked a driver's license of any sort — a strong indication that the Honduran national will be deported after his criminal case has been adjudicated and he has served any resulting prison time.

The roughly two dozen workers in the bus, most of whom received minor injuries, were en route to Baton Rouge to seek jobs with the firm Wallace, Rush, Schmidt Inc., which employs crews remediating flooded properties and which provided the bus, according to David Wallace, the Arkansas legislator who is one of the company's three principals.

+5

BY DAN SWENSON | THE ADVOCATE
Eddie Schmidt, the longtime Ward 4 constable for St. Tammany Parish, is also a principal in the firm.

The bus driver, Denis Yasmir Amaya Rodriguez, 37, has remained in the United States for years without legal permission even as he repeatedly has encountered local law enforcement, who have cited him at least six times for driving without a license. He even filed an unsuccessful lawsuit in Jefferson Parish following a 2014 crash before pleading guilty to driving without a license in that case, according to court documents.

Amaya remained behind bars Monday on two counts of negligent homicide, negligent injuring, reckless operation and driving without a license.

Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have asked authorities in St. John the Baptist Parish to notify them before releasing Amaya, citing his arrest on felony counts following the crash on Interstate 10.
+5

It's not clear whether ICE previously encountered Amaya before his arrest Sunday. But his checkered driving history highlights the agency's often controversial policies regarding immigration enforcement — an approach that focuses on the deportation of felons and largely ignores traffic offenses. Amaya was pulled over by Louisiana State Police as recently as Aug. 5, but the trooper did not contact ICE.

"ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes the removal of criminal aliens and other individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security," Thomas Byrd, an agency spokesman, said in an emailed statement.

"Aliens convicted of crimes involving violence are among ICE’s highest priority for removal from the country."

Deputies in Jefferson Parish booked Amaya in June 2011 on allegations he punched his live-in girlfriend and then struck her with a cellphone — charges that later were dismissed.

Court records show that, before Sunday, authorities had cited Amaya five times for driving without a license since September 2012. He pleaded guilty in four of those cases, one of which also accused him of improperly changing lanes and careless operation of a vehicle.

Donald "Chick" Foret, a former federal prosecutor, said a traffic court judge could sentence someone convicted of driving without a license to six months of jail time, but that is rarely, if ever, done.

That means people know they can be convicted of driving without a license and most likely avoid going to jail, Foret said.

"If an illegal alien can afford to pay the fines and court costs, the only penalty that (likely) will be assessed to him or her for multiple offenses is monetary," Foret said.

In two of his earlier cases, Amaya was stopped by a state trooper.

That agency does not require troopers to investigate the immigration status of motorists they pull over, but troopers may ask ICE to respond if, for instance, they encounter someone suspected of a violent crime or distributing drugs, said Trooper Melissa Matey, a State Police spokeswoman.

Amaya was driving a party bus carrying two dozen workers from New Orleans to Baton Rouge when he apparently lost control of the bus and struck a fire engine that had stopped on Interstate 10 at the scene of an earlier wreck.

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Wallace, Rush, Schmidt has hundreds of employees working in Baton Rouge right now, focusing on gutting commercial structures damaged in the recent flooding, according to David Wallace.

Wallace told The Advocate that a company liaison named "Edgar" recruited the workers and rented the party bus; he said he could not recall Edgar's last name.

The bus was owned by AM Party Bus, a trade name of Kristina’s Transportation LLC of Jefferson. AM Party Bus did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

A search of records in New Orleans and Jefferson did not show that Kristina's has a for-hire transportation license.

Wallace insisted his company hires only laborers with proper immigration papers. The company relied on Kristina's Transportation to ensure its drivers are licensed, he said.

"We do not hire illegals," Wallace said. "We look at their right-to-work documents, and we make sure they have the right to work in our country."

But at least one person on the bus — the driver — was not in the country legally. WWL-TV reported Monday that Amaya had been working for WRS' recruiting liaison, as well as for Schmidt, the St. Tammany constable. Schmidt could not be reached.

Either way, Amaya's acquaintances said Monday that he had merely been trying to make a living for himself, often taking jobs roofing, painting and landscaping, sending money home to relatives in Honduras.

He spent some of his free time worshiping at Spanish-language services held at an evangelical church in Fat City and frequenting a Latin American grocery just down the street from an apartment neighbors said he rented.

"Everybody's a loser in this situation," said one of Amaya's acquaintances, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "You have two people who lost their lives, and (Amaya) is probably going to have to do some (jail) time over this."

"He has to do something to be punished for it," the acquaintance added. "But he's really a human being."

The wreck occurred early Sunday, when the bus struck another vehicle and three firefighters who had been responding to an earlier crash, sending them over a guardrail and into a swampy waterway some 40 feet below. Col. Mike Edmonson, the State Police superintendent, described a "heroic effort" by first responders, who used a ladder to rescue the firemen, one of whom died in a trooper's arms.

"This was human nature at its finest," Edmonson said. "As sad as this event was, I could not be more proud of the troopers, first responders and ordinary citizens who assisted."

Spencer Chauvin, a district chief with St. John Fire Services, was pronounced dead at River Parishes Hospital. A passenger in the other vehicle, 21-year-old Jermaine Starr, of Moss Point, Mississippi, also was killed in the crash.

Another fireman, William Mack Beal, was treated and released Sunday, while the third, Nicholas Saale, remained hospitalized in guarded condition at University Medical Center in New Orleans. Cain Dufrene, the chief of operations for St. John Fire Services, said Saale had been removed from a breathing machine and "was actually talking and cutting up" Monday.

"It lifted my spirits," Dufrene said. "But he's got a little road ahead of him."

Dufrene said that Chauvin had dedicated his entire life to public service. He said the father of two would be best remembered for the leadership and courage he showed during Hurricane Isaac.

"The guy put out a house fire in 4 feet of water in the back of LaPlace," Dufrene said. "He made sure that fire was extinguished. That, in and of itself, is something you don’t hear about much. Isaac is where he really led the guys."

The crash injured more than 30 people, including the two dozen workers who had been passengers on the party bus. Matey, the State Police spokeswoman, said troopers had not yet identified all of those victims, who had been taken to several hospitals in the area.

"Two of them are in a lot of pain throughout their whole body," said Cristian Silva, a Harvey attorney representing three of the bus passengers, all of whom have been released from the hospital. "One couldn’t get up from the sofa."

http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orlea...817bcf9ab.html

If upon finding him to be in the country illegally & he were deported in '12 (upholding our immigration laws), we would not have lost these lives. What kind of idiot sees a firetruck and does not slow down?

GOP senators demand intel on illegal alien driver who killed two

By ANNA GIARITELLI (@ANNA_GIARITELLI)
8/30/16 8:40 PM

Louisiana's two U.S. senators on Tuesday demanded answers from the Department of Homeland Security about an illegal immigrant involved in a fatal bus accident in their state over the weekend.

Republican Sens. David Vitter and Bill Cassidy, along with Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, asked DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson give them more information about the identity of the bus driver, who law enforcement said was a Honduran man illegally present in the U.S., and who didn't have a driver's license.

"This past Sunday, two American lives were tragically cut short in a bus crash in St. John the Baptist Parish, and my thoughts and prayers remain with their families," Vitter said in a statement. "As we continue looking into the circumstances surrounding the bus crash, it's troubling to know that the driver responsible is an illegal alien who did not have the proper documentation to be legally driving in the United States. This tragedy absolutely could have been prevented, and it's important for Secretary Johnson to cooperate in investigating the illegal alien who took two innocent American lives on Sunday, including any prior criminal activity."

The senators have asked Johnson to respond to their 11 questions and requests for information by Sept. 12:
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1. The alien registration number for Rodriguez, his complete alien file (A-file), including any temporary files, working files, or Service Center files, and all documents and items contained in them, all reports or notifications generated by DHS or in its possession about him, whether currently in written or electronic form, including, but not limited to, the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Executive Summary, criminal history or immigration summaries, detainers or requests for notification, I-213(s), and Notice(s) to Appear or other charging documents created to seek his removal from the United States.

2. Please identify each and every date on which Rodriguez was encountered by a law enforcement agency in the United States, to include criminal and civil arrests, the nature of the charge, the jurisdiction where the arrest occurred, the disposition of that charge, the date(s) on which he was released from the custody of that law enforcement agency, and the reason(s) for the release. Please provide the arrest and disposition documentation for each encounter.

3. How and when did Rodriguez enter the United States? Was he ever served with a Notice to Appear? Was it filed with an immigration court? Please explain.

4. Did Rodriguez ever apply for any immigration benefits, including deferred action? If so, was any application approved? Please provide copies of any applications that he may have submitted, whether or not adjudicated.

5. Has Rodriguez been removed previously? If so, when?

6. Has ICE issued a detainer or request for notification to any entity regarding Rodriguez? Please explain.

7. Was Rodriguez a member of, or associated with any criminal gang? Please explain.

8. If Rodriguez had been encountered by DHS enforcement officials prior to his arrest for murder, would he have met the requirements to be considered a priority for removal under the Administration's Priority Enforcement Program?

If so, please provide the exact reason for such consideration. If not, why not?

9. Have the victims, or their immediate family members, been contacted by officials at ICE? Please provide details.

10. Is DHS investigating who or what company chartered the bus and hired Mr. Rodriguez to operate it without a valid commercial driver's license?

11. Is ICE working to determine the immigration status of the passengers on the bus Mr. Rodriguez was driving?

The driver, Denis Yasmir Amaya Rodriguez, had been driving a bus filled with 24 foreign construction workers to Baton Rouge, La., on Aug.28 when he collided with first responders, who had been on scene responding to a separate incident. The crash killed local fire chief Spencer Chauvin and a passenger, Jermaine Starr.

Rodriguez had been ticketed on six occasions for driving without a license, police records show. Due to current immigration policy, police were not able to turn him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the time of the stop even though Rodriguez did not have legal permission to be in the country.

"Sadly, this is yet another story in a long line of stories where innocent American citizens have been killed or injured by an illegal alien who has complete disregard for the laws of this nation," the senators wrote in the letter.‎

Rodriguez has not been charged with murder, but was arrested on two counts of negligent homicide and one each of negligent injury, reckless driving and driving without a license. He is being held on a $1.1 million bond by the St. John the Baptist Paris sheriff's office.

In addition, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is now investigating the bus company, identified as both AM Party Bus and Kristina's Transportation LLC.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/go...rticle/2600604

At least some politicians are demanding answers from johnson but to stop this from happening again and again the PEP nonsense needs to roll over to" deport anyone found to be in the country illegally" period.

It has gotten to the point that showing a passport is enough to let them go on their merry way. A passport is not a visa. That is what would allow their presence in the USA - no tickee, no laundry - remove them.

One two three, stop the baloney @ courts behind and make them work efficiently no matter what it takes. It would be less costly than deaths and injuries to American citizens and no more social services, babies to pay for. Get them out of here if they are in our country illegally.