Thread: CO: Unlicensed driver runs red light; three injured

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Unlicensed driver runs red light; three injured
By Joey Bunch
The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 10/05/2008 07:25:23 PM MDT


An unlicensed driver who caused a rollover crash that hurt a woman and two children in his minivan will be turned over to immigration officials, Broomfield police said today.

Daniel Barrales, 22, ran a red light at West 144th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, police said. A GMC Envoy broadsided the minivan, crashing it to roll on its side.

A 24-year-old woman and 5-month-old boy sustained minor injuries, but a 3-year-old girl was airlifted with injuries police characterized as serious but not life-threatening. Authorities have not identified the three or their relationship to Barrales.

A statement from Broomfield police said no other information about the case would be released until Monday.

The two people in the sport-utility vehicle were not injured, police said.

Barrales is in Broomfield Detention Center on suspicion of careless driving resulting in injury and driving without license. No bond will be set, pending the outcome of any immigration issues.

Barrales has had traffic problems before.

According to public court records, he was charged by the Colorado State Patrol with driving under the influence, illegal lane change, driving without a license and driving with false plates in March.

In May, Adams County Judge Jeffrey Liam Romeo dismissed all of the charges.

In August 2007 Barrales pleaded guilty to driving without a license and paid a $72 fine after being ticketed by Commerce City police, records show. Judge Simon Mole dismissed a second charge of failure to show proof of insurance.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_10645680?source=rss

dismiss a failure to show insurance??
more proof that judges and others think these are the chosen ones

The feds are looking into san frans sancuary laws sounds like they need to turn an eye towards colorado.Beside's I THOUGHT IT WAS LAW IN ALL 50 STATE'S TO HAVE PROOF OF INS.Somebody need's to tell this judge to go read his law book's again.

Driver in injury crash escaped prior prosecution
Immigration hold placed on 22-year-old
By Michael Davidson (Contact)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008


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The man jailed for causing a rollover crash in Broomfield Saturday that left him and three family members injured is a suspected undocumented immigrant with a previous record of traffic violations, including drunk driving.

Daniel Barrales, 22, who was jailed on $1,000 bond for careless driving resulting in injury and driving without a valid license after Saturday’s crash at 144th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, also was placed on an immigration hold.

In March, Barrales was stopped in Adams County by a state trooper and charged with driving under the influence, making an illegal lane change, driving without a license and driving with false plates.

The charges were dismissed in May. Krista Flannigan, spokeswoman for the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, said the charges were dropped because the court had not received necessary paperwork from the Colorado State Patrol. She characterized the mistake as rare.

Barrales is unlikely to avoid detention after Saturday’s crash.

Barrales will be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement if he pays his bond or charges are dropped. The agency will investigate his legal status and could begin deportation proceedings, ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said.

The local prosecution on the traffic charges would proceed independently.

Barrales was advised of his rights in a court hearing Monday and is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 21 in Broomfield County Court, Flannigan said. He has not paid his bond.

Broomfield police said Barrales was driving a van carrying his 24-year-old sister-in-law and her two children when he ran a red light at the intersection of 144th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. The van clipped an oncoming SUV and rolled onto its roof, police said.

No one in the SUV was hurt.

Barrales was transported to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, said Wendy Forbes, spokeswoman for North Metro Fire Rescue District. After treatment, he was taken to Broomfield County jail.

The woman, whose name was withheld by North Metro Fire Rescue, and her infant son also were taken to Good Samaritan with minor injuries. Her daughter, 2, was airlifted to Denver’s Children’s Hospital, where she is recovering, Forbes said.

The crash happened a month after a fatal accident in Aurora for which an illegal immigrant was arrested.

Francis Hernandez, 23, is charged with causing the crash that killed three people. Hernandez is accused of broadsiding a pickup truck in Aurora on Sept. 4, sending both vehicles careening into a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop. Two women in the pickup, Debra Serecky, 51, of Aurora, and Patricia Guntharp, 49, of Centennial, were killed, as was Marten Kudlis, 3, of Aurora, who was in Baskin-Robbins with his mother.

In the wake of the accident, it was learned Hernandez had numerous contacts with Colorado law enforcement in the past five years.

Aurora police said Arapahoe County sheriff’s officials referred Hernandez, a Guatemalan, to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after he was arrested April 25 on suspicion of speeding and driving without a valid license. ICE said Hernandez had never been referred to them before the crash.

His lengthy record and immigration status outraged some Colorado lawmakers, who were calling for review of immigration policies and enforcement. Their outrage lead the Legislative Audit Committee in September to authorize auditor Sally Symanski to “scopeâ€

It is time this judge is dismissed instead of the illegal alien offences.