Thread: SUV hits Clayton eatery, hurts 3

SUV hits Clayton eatery, hurts 3
By William C. Lhotka and Patrick M. O’Connell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/18/2007


Sergio Lopez

CLAYTON • A driver whose SUV plowed into a crowd of lunchtime diners outside a restaurant in downtown Clayton on Tuesday told police he had been blinded by a bright light.

Police Capt. Steve Grenier said the driver of a white Ford Expedition lost control while making a left turn from westbound Maryland Avenue onto southbound Central Avenue just before noon.

The vehicle crossed the sidewalk into a sunken outdoor dining area at Il Vicino, pinning two diners beneath it and injuring a third, said Clayton Fire Chief Mark Thorp.

All three victims were taken by ambulance to St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur. James Travaglini, 63, and Ann Stockton, 62, were treated and released, police said. Kathryn Travaglini, 54, remained hospitalized Tuesday evening.

Kevin Freeman, an Il Vicino server, said he heard a loud crash. When he looked up, he saw the SUV had crashed into a table of three people eating just outside the restaurant.

Almost immediately, a police officer with his weapon drawn was yelling at the SUV’s driver to put his hands up, he said.

"I ran behind the counter so I wouldn’t get shot," he said.

The driver, Sergio Lopez, 23, who has a post office post address in Collinsville, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico, Clayton Police Chief Thomas Byrne said. He suffered minor injuries in the crash.

Lopez, who spoke little English and did not have a valid U.S. driver’s license, told police he was blinded by a bright light as he attempted to turn.

He was cited for operating a vehicle with no license, having no proof of insurance and making an improper turn. Immigration Customs Enforcement has issued a federal detainment order on Lopez and he was to be held at the St. Louis County Justice Center upon his release from the hospital. Lopez was driving his own SUV, Byrne said.

Thorp said the restaurant, on the first floor of a five-story brick building, was evacuated after the crash. The front of the SUV came to rest against its north side.

Thorp said firefighters used rescue air bags and a winch to lift the vehicle off the victims and pull it away from them.

Il Vicino was closed Tuesday night as workers repaired the damage but the restaurant was expected to re-open for regular business at 11 a.m. today.

Jeremy Kohler of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

blhotka@post-dispatch.com | 314-615-3283

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

Our streets are sure safer with the illegals around.

Quote-
and did not have a valid U.S. driver’s license,

What does this mean? Was it that he had NO license,a dummied up one from someone who sells such things or a matricla consolar card?
Whos car was he driving?
I don't expect you to know the answers ControlledImmigration, these are just some things I noticed in the article.


I hope the victims are all okay and all get good lawyers.

If the photo with the story is the mugshot, this guy looks completely at ease with the pain and suffering he has caused those three victims.He looks totally nonplussed.Pathetic.




Head 'em up,move 'em out. Rawhide!

Illegal who crashed SUV in Clayton faces federal charges
Adam Allington, KWMU

ST. LOUIS, MO (2007-10-26) The illegal immigrant who crashed his SUV into a group of outdoor diners at a restaurant in Clayton last month is now facing federal charges.

Sergio Lopez, a Mexican citizen, has been indicted on charges of using a false social security number and pretending to be a U.S. citizen to gain employment.

James Ward is the Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in St. Louis.

"I believe he's been deported a couple of times, we've run across him on a couple of occasions and I believe within several weeks he was back into the country," said Ward.

If convicted Lopez could face up to five years in prison for each charge and fines up to two-hundred fifty thousand dollars.

U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway says on average, her office indicts about one illegal immigrant per week.

"Something in their past record rises their status to that of an aggravated felon at least for the purposes of the indictment," said Hanaway.

"Otherwise we're not bringing indictments and we're not bringing indictments and their just administratively deported."

Lopez-Luna was working at the Caf Napoli, also in Clayton. He had already been deported twice since 2004


http://publicbroadcasting.net

Thanks for the update Jean.

Rawhide!

Illegal immigrant in crash pleads to fed. charges
By Robert Patrick
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/09/2008


The illegal immigrant who crashed his SUV into a Clayton restaurant's lunchtime crowd pleaded guilty Wednesday to using a false Social Security number, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Sergio Lopez-Luna, 23, a Mexican citizen, admitted buying a fake Social Security card and permanent resident card for $250 in February 2004, when he entered the country illegally.

Lopez-Luna used the Social Security card to get work at a Clayton restaurant in April of 2004.

Lopez-Luna now faces up to six months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines and will be deported.

Lopez-Luna has been caught in the country twice and agreed to be removed rather than face deportation each time, prosecutors said. A cousin told the Post-Dispatch last year that he walks 24 hours through the desert to get back to the U.S., and send money home to support his wife and two daughters in his home city of Maravatio, about three hours northwest of Mexico City.

Lopez-Luna crashed the SUV into a sunken outdoor dining area of the restaurant Il Vicino on Sept. 18. One patron required hospitalization, and two others were treated at a hospital and released.

Lopez-Luna told the police that while making a left turn from westbound Maryland Avenue onto southbound Central Avenue, he was blinded by a bright light.

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