CO:Unlicensed Driver Cited In Accident, Keeps Driving UPDATE
Unlicensed Driver Cited In Accident, Keeps Driving
Police Say Accident Victim Could Be Charged For Following Unlicensed Driver To Prove She's Driving
Arthur Kane and John Ferrugia , CALL7 Investigators
POSTED: 4:56 pm MST February 22, 2011
UPDATED: 11:58 am MST March 2, 2011
DENVER -- A woman who was severely injured in a traffic accident found the woman cited in the accident still driving without a license. But when she complained to police, officers did little to get the driver off the road and told the woman she could be arrested for harassing the unlicensed driver, a CALL7 Investigation uncovered.
“I had gone to the emergency room, and after multiple X-rays they found out I had chest contusions, and I had asked, 'What about my head?' Because my head was still hurting,â€
Unlicensed Driver In Injury Crash Arrested By ICE
CALL7: Unlicensed Driver In Injury Crash Arrested By ICE
Woman Threatened To Sue Accident Victim, Call Police
Alan Gathright, 7NEWS Content Producer
POSTED: 11:15 am MST March 2, 2011
UPDATED: 2:27 pm MST March 2, 2011
AURORA, Colo. -- Federal immigration agents have detained an unlicensed Colorado driver, from Mexico, who injured a couple in a crash and continued to drive despite a court order to stop.
CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia has learned that Immigration and Customs Enforcement admistratively arrested the driver, Martha Hernandez-Fuerte, 24, and she is being held at the ICE detention facility in Aurora awaiting a hearing.
Sources familiar with the case told Ferrugia that Tuesday's arrest was a direct result of the CALL7 Investigation.
During the investigation of the Lakewood crash that injured a husband and wife, Hernandez-Fuerte was cited for failure to stop at a red light and driving without a license, but police did not tow the vehicle Hernandez-Fuerte was driving or arrest her, Ferrugia revealed in a report that aired on Sunday night.
Hernandez-Fuerte’s only identification was a Mexican passport, and she told police she had lived in the U.S. for six years, records show. When Ferrugia confronted Hernandez-Fuerte, she refused to say whether she was in the country legally.
Diana, the woman injured in the wreck, discovered that Hernandez-Fuerte was still driving without a license. She captured the woman driving on video.
But when Diana complained to police, officers did nothing to get the driver off the road and told Diana she could be arrested for harassing the unlicensed driver, the CALL7 Investigation uncovered.
CALL7 also documented that the woman was still driving, but when Ferrugia asked if Hernandez-Fuerte had a driver's license, she refused to answer.
Hernandez-Fuerte Threatens To Sue Victim
Instead, Hernandez-Fuerte said if Diana continued to follow her, she would report the accident victim to police and sue her.
“She says if (Diana) keeps following her, she's going to file a lawsuit because she feels harassed,â€