Charges: 19-year-old driver was drunk at time of fatal St. Paul crash

The young El Salvadoran entered the country illegally at age 15 in 2016 and was ordered deported seven months later, according to an ICE spokesman.

By Paul Walsh Star Tribune APRIL 11, 2019 — 4:18PM

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Jose O. Vasquez Guillen

A 19-year-old man has been charged with felony drunken driving for striking another car in St. Paul last week and killing the other driver, according to charges.

Jose O. Vasquez-Guillen, of St. Paul, was charged Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on April 3 south of the St. Paul Downtown Airport near Concord and Page streets. Mark J. O’Gara, 52, of St. Paul, died at the scene.

Two days after the crash, Vasquez-Guillen left the Ramsey County jail and was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Vasquez-Guillen, a citizen of El Salvador, entered the country illegally at age 15 in January 2016, and a federal judge seven months later ordered him deported, ICE spokesman Shawn Neudauer said Thursday. The deportation order came after Vasquez-Guillen failed to appear for his immigration hearing.

Kenny O’Gara, one of Mark’s sons, learned last week from police that Vasquez-Guillen was in the country illegally.

The charges say that Vasquez-Guillen’s blood alcohol content about two hours after the crash was 0.149, well above the legal limit for anyone 21 and older to drive in Minnesota.

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Mark O’Gara

O’Gara, born on Christmas Day 1966 and a St. Paul Central High School graduate, leaves behind a wife, 10 children and six grandchildren.

Vasquez-Guillen was speeding in a Honda southeast on Concord that hit O’Gara’s Saturn as it was leaving a driveway to head northwest onto Concord, police said.

Responding fire paramedics freed O’Gara from behind the wheel and treated him for his injuries, but he died moments later.

Vasquez-Guillen contended soon after the crash that the other car pulled out in front of him, according to the charges. He also said he had three beers earlier but was unsure when he had his last drink, the criminal complaint continued. He was taken to Regions Hospital with noncritical injuries.

State officials said Vasquez-Guillen has never had a Minnesota driver’s license or state identification card.

A woman also was in O’Gara’s car, but she left the scene before officers arrived, said Police Sgt. Mike Ernster. Officers soon located her nearby, and she went to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, Ernster said.

http://www.startribune.com/charges-1...ash/508433412/