Thread: Grand jury declines to charge driver in deadly van crash

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Grand jury declines to charge driver
Car crash uncovered immigrant smuggling
Saturday, August 19, 2006
By Bruce Hamilton
A St. Tammany Parish grand jury declined to charge the driver of a pickup who allegedly fell asleep at the wheel on Interstate 12 last year and caused a van crash that killed four passengers and uncovered an apparent immigrant-smuggling operation.

The panel this week decided against charging Glenn Richard of Crowley, who was driving east on I-12 near Lacombe on July 25, 2005, when the accident occurred.

State Police said Richard rear-ended a van filled with 14 people, at least six of whom were illegal immigrants, causing it to spin out of control and slam into a tree.

The driver of the van and a passenger were indicted last year on federal charges of transporting illegal immigrants. They were injured, along with 12 of the other passengers.

The two Texas men in the van are accused of accepting $500 each to drive a van full of illegal immigrants to various destinations on the East Coast.

In other matters, the grand jury indicted a Marrero man and a Dalton, Ga., man on negligent homicide charges in separate fatal accidents involving a watercraft collision on Bayou Bonfouca last summer and a recent car crash on Interstate 59 near Slidell.

In the Bayou Bonfouca case, a Marrero woman was killed and her companion was seriously injured when a boat filled with their friends ran them over. Laura Bergeron, 25, was riding a jet ski operated by Thomas Vanness Jr., 27, near Slidell, about 1½ miles southwest of Bayou Liberty Road.

They went into the water on the morning of July 4, 2005, and headed toward Lake Pontchartrain along with four of their friends from the West Bank of Jefferson Parish. The jet ski cruised beside the boat, then pulled away and turned into the boat's path, witnesses told investigators.

Bergeron was killed instantly when the boat's propeller struck her, and Vanness suffered severe leg and facial lacerations. Nathan Crabtree, who was driving the boat, is charged with negligent homicide. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

In the I-59 case, police said the driver of a van rear-ended another car north of Slidell on June 19, causing a three-vehicle accident that left a 10-year-old girl dead and injured her 16-year-old sister as well as several others.

Fernando Patino Carillo, 25, was driving a Chevrolet Astro Van south in the left lane of the interstate. Two other cars were stopped in the right lane because of traffic, and he switched into the right lane, striking a Chrysler Sebring, which smashed into a Buck Century ahead of it, State Police said.

The Chrysler spun clockwise and came to rest on the shoulder, facing west. Its driver, Christopher Bihm of Picayune, Miss., and two of his passengers, Georgana Bihm and the 16-year-old, were all hospitalized separately. The 10-year-old died at the scene; the girls were not identified.

Carillo and his passengers were not injured. He was indicted on one count of negligent homicide and three counts of negligent injuring, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a $500 fine.

. . . . . . .

Bruce Hamilton can be reached at bhamilton@timespicayune.com or (985) 898-4827.

http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5301658

Grand jury declines charges in deadly van crash

COVINGTON, La. -- A grand jury has decided not to charge the driver of a pickup truck who was accused of causing a van crash that killed four people and uncovered an alleged immigrant-smuggling operation.

Authorities said Glenn Richard, of Crowley, was driving on Interstate 12 near Lacombe when the accident occurred on July 25, 2005. State police said Richard's truck rear-ended a van carrying 18 people, causing it to spin out of control and slam into a tree.

Richard apparently fell asleep while driving, troopers said.

The driver of the van, Ricardo Moreno-Monarrez, of San Antonio and one of the passengers, David Villareal-Zuniga, of Mexico, were indicted last year on federal charges of transporting illegal immigrants. They were injured, along with 12 of the passengers.

The two men were accused of accepting $500 each to drive 16 illegal immigrants to various destinations on the East Coast.

Great, more lawbreakers who are being set free. This is just pathetic.