http://www.summitdaily.com/article/2006 ... /112010068

State patrol stops stolen van filled with 16 alleged illegals


RYAN SLABAUGH
summit daily news
December 1, 2006


Summit County, CO Colorado

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY - Colorado State Patrol detained sixteen alleged illegal immigrants Friday morning after a trooper performing a routine traffic stop noticed an overcrowded van that turned out to be stolen.

According to Trooper Gilbert Mares, a fellow trooper stopped a brown 1995 Chevy Astrovan at about 9 a.m. near mile marker 219 just east of the Eisenhower Tunnel, and noticed it was filled over capacity. The officer approached the vehicle and counted 16 passengers in the eight-seat van.

"While he was conducting the stop, it came back to him that the vehicle was stolen out of North Carolina," Mares said. "It was reported stolen on Nov. 10."

The officer immediately arrested the driver, Omar Perez-Gomez, 19, and a female passenger, Danias MacMillan, 24. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents met troopers at the Clear Creek County Jail and began questioning and processing the other 14 passengers, Mares added.

On Tuesday, a minivan that authorities suspect was being used to smuggle illegal immigrants crashed on Interstate 70 Tuesday, killing four people and sending 10 to the hospital.

"We see these kinds of stops all the time," Mares said. "This is nothing new. We stop about an average of 500 people - not cars, people - a week (statewide)."



Ryan Slabaugh can be contacted at (970) 668-3998, ext. 13600, or at rslabaugh@summitdaily.com