Thread: UT-Van rollover likely linked to transport of illegals

Van rollover likely linked to transport of illegals
By Arthur Raymond



Published: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 9:20 p.m. MST



HANKSVILLE — Law enforcement officials say the driver in a rollover accident near Hanksville early Thursday that injured nine passengers is likely linked to an attempt to transport illegal immigrants.

The Utah Highway Patrol reports that officers responded to a rollover accident on state Route 24 about 20 miles north of Hanksville about 5:30 a.m. Thursday. Troopers arrived to find eight men and one woman, some of whom were thrown from the van they were riding in after it left the road and rolled several times, with a variety of injuries. Six people were in serious to critical condition and transported by three different medical helicopters to hospitals in Provo and Grand Junction, Colo. Three others were transported by ground ambulance to Castle View Hospital in Price and the Green River Medical Center.

UHP Sgt. Darrel Meacham said the driver of the van was reported to have fled the scene on foot — which he said was not uncommon in the circumstances surrounding Thursday's incident.

"Many of those injured in the accident were not able to provide identification … and likely are not residents," Meacham said. "The sad part about these situations, and this looks like a trafficking attempt, is these people were probably taken advantage of and charged a lot of money for this."


Neither the identity nor the whereabouts of the driver of the van where known on Saturday.

Trooper Gary Riches said that agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had detained one passenger who was treated and released in Green River with minor injuries and were investigating the incident.

ICE officials could not be reached Saturday for comment.

Meacham said many of the victims were still hospitalized Saturday, with at least two still in critical condition.

e-mail: araymond@desnews.com


http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7053 ... ack=rss-30

The sad part about these situations, and this looks like a trafficking attempt, is these people were probably taken advantage of and charged a lot of money for this." If they paid for this service they were commiting a crime and violating our laws. So had they not done the wrong thing this would not have happened to them. And in the end the American tax payers end up cleaning up yet another mess made by illegals and/or their advocates.



The real sad part is if the illegala had managed to get settled into our country, the American people would have been stuck paying for them and their anchors and their extended familes for the course of their lifetimes.

Suspected immigrant smuggler rolls van
Accident » Nine injured; six transported by medical helicopters.
By Lindsay Whitehurst



Updated: 11/06/2009 06:44:36 PM MST


Nine people were hurt, at least three critically, when an SUV that may have been carrying undocumented immigrants crashed on State Road 24 early Thursday morning, police said.

The driver of a 2000 Chevrolet Suburban drifted off the northbound shoulder of the road about 20 miles north of Hanksville, said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden.

The SUV came back onto the road, but skidded across both the north and southbound lanes. The driver lost control and the Suburban rolled several times.

Passengers told police the driver ran from the scene, leaving nine injured people behind, several of whom had been thrown from the vehicle. Someone called 911 about 5:20 a.m. When crews arrived, they found six people in serious to critical condition.

They were flown to two hospitals in three separate medical helicopters. Two passengers went to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo and four to Saint Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo.

The other three were transported by ground ambulance. Two went to Castle View Hospital in Price, and the third was treated at Green River Medical Center and released.

Investigators believe the driver may have fallen asleep while speeding, Roden said.

Passengers told police they were from Mexico and Arizona and headed for Colorado and Florida. The vehicle is registered in Arizona. Police are trying to identify the driver.

Based on interviews with the passengers and evidence at the scene, investigators believe the passengers were in the country illegally, Roden said.

The case was handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is investigating the crash, according to ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley.

Two of the people involved in the rollover were detained by ICE and are pending deportation, she said.

Roden did not immediately know the passengers' genders, ages or hometowns, but said they are all adults.

Other suspected smuggling accidents
March 29 » Two people who were killed in an accident near Salina in Sevier County may have been in the country illegally, investigators said. The driver of a Toyota van carrying 12 people apparently fell asleep and veered off the road on eastbound Interstate 70 in Salina Canyon. The van hit rumble strips on the road and the driver woke up, but overcorrected, causing the van to hit a guardrail and roll. Four people were thrown from the van and down a 50-foot embankment. Two men died at the scene and four people were taken to the Sevier Valley Hospital. They were treated for minor injuries and released to the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Nov. 27, 2007 » A minivan believed to be carrying undocumented immigrants rolled on Interstate 15 in Iron County, killing 16-year-old Brenda Veronica Martinez.

August 2007 » Five people died after a Suburban carrying 11 people, mostly undocumented immigrants, flipped off Interstate 70, near Green River.

June 7, 2007 » Two passengers died when the pickup they were in overturned near Hurricane.

April 17, 2007 » An SUV on U.S. Highway 191 south of Bluff rolled, killing eight people.

Oct. 11, 2005 » Two people died when a Dodge Caravan carrying 16 undocumented immigrants overturned on U.S. Highway 191 south of Moab.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13732248?source=rss