Suspected illegal immigrants flee traffic stop

Friday, December 12, 2008

Officers with the highway patrol spent Thursday afternoon looking for suspected undocumented immigrants who bailed from a van during a traffic stop near Parks.

An officer noticed an equipment violation on a gray Chevy van traveling eastbound registered out of California and attempted a traffic stop, said Sgt. Gary Phelps of the Flagstaff office of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. During the stop, the driver of the van quickly accelerated, then stopped abruptly and as many as 10 people jumped from the van and ran south across the railroad tracks into a residential area at Parks. Several officers began searching the area, and by 4:30 p.m., had rounded up most of the people who ran from the van.

Phelps said that if the people are confirmed to be undocumented immigrants, DPS officials will contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement to determine if ICE agents will come to Flagstaff to transport the people south for deportation proceedings.

http://azdailysun.com/articles/2008/12/ ... 186904.txt