Drunk Driving Suspect In Crash Illegal Immigrant
6:58 PM, Mar 16, 2011 FAIRFAX STATION, Va. (WUSA) - "This is wrong. I was enraged," says a friend of 54-year-old Paul Krause who was killed Monday night on Route 1 near Ft. Belvoir.
Krause was hit head-on after being pushed into on-coming traffic by a drunk driver who then ran from the scene with his own 3-year-old child. Thirty-three-year-old Carlos Sanchez-Ramos is charged with child endangerment, hit and run, aggravated involuntary manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.
"When that guy decided to take the keys after he had already taken a sip, to walk in that car, he's already chose to take someone's life. And he took the wrong person's life," said Quyen Phan Le.
Phan Le is a Tai Kwon Do coach on the National Olympics team, on which Krause's three daughters are members. Christina Krause, 23, and Cheryl Krause, 20, attend George Mason University. Shaina Krause is in high school. They and their mother were too distraught to speak about the tragedy.
Phan Le has coached the girls for many years. He was overtaken by emotion as he talked about Paul Krause. He says the retired Army Colonel, and engineer at SAIC, was like a father to him.
"Paul Krause was a very kind-hearted individual who was always willing to help out.... He was always there with advice.... He loved his daughters... If he ever took a sip of beer, he wouldn't dare do such a thing," said Phan Le.
Court records show Sanchez Ramos's blood alcohol content (BAC) was .2, more than double the legal limit of .08.
In 2007, Sanchez-Ramos was also charged with DWI in a single-car crash. Court documents show his BAC was .16. Fairfax prosecutors agreed to drop that number to .14, which meant that Sanchez-Ramos did not have to serve a day in jail. They did not know he was an illegal immigrant who had been deported by federal authorities and sneaked back into the country.
"Having a person who is driving while intoxicated, second, whose been illegally immersed in our community, and then brought back, what can you say about the system? This is really disappointing, " said Phan Le.
Cori W Bassett, ICE spokeswoman released this statement: "Carlos Lagos Ramos, a Honduran national entered the United States without inspection in September 2003. He was ordered deported by an immigration judge in November 2003 and removed to Honduras on January 2004. Ramos later re-entered the U.S. illegally without ICE's knowledge. After his recent arrest, ICE lodged a detainer on Ramos with the Fairfax Adult Detention Center on March 14, 2011."
Because of the new Secure Communities partnership between ICE and the Fairfax County Sheriff's department, Sanchez-Ramos's fingerprints were sent to ICE this time.
Bassett had this statement on Sanchez-Ramos's background:
"ICE was not notified of any other encounters he may have had with local law enforcement. Ramos would have been identified through Secure Communities had it been activated in 2007."
ICE has issued a detainer for his arrest after his case in Fairfax is resolved, which may take many years.
The suspect is being held without bond.
http://wusa9.com/news/article/141837/37 ... -Immigrant
