Apr 17, 2007 8:30 pm US/Mountain
Witnesses: SUV Driver Fondling Woman Before Crash


BLUFF Federal authorities filed a criminal charge Tuesday against the driver of a sport utility vehicle that crashed in southeastern Utah, killing eight illegal immigrants packed inside.

Rigoberto Salas-Lopez, 30, was charged with one count of transporting illegal immigrants resulting in death. Eight of the 14 people in the Chevy Suburban died after it rolled several times on U.S. 191 a few hours before dawn Monday.

Authorities determined that the driver and passengers were from Guatemala and Mexico. Salas-Lopez was arrested after fleeing into the desert after the crash in the Four Corners area of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado.

He said he was given the vehicle by a man in Phoenix who offered him $1,000 to drive the people to St. Louis from Phoenix, according to an affidavit by Timothy Chard, an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Salas also stated that he knew the individuals in the vehicle were from Mexico and Guatemala and that they were in the United States illegally,” Chard wrote.

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Some survivors told agents that Salas-Lopez was fondling a woman before the crash – accounts that contradict his claim that he was trying to avoid hitting an animal.

“According to interviews by ICE that potentially was not the case,” said Lt. Todd Peterson of the Utah Highway Patrol. “The driver was involved in fondling or groping a female in the vehicle and that was the potential reason for the distracted driving.”

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On Oct. 11, 2005, a van loaded with 16 people, all but one in the U.S. illegally, rolled on U.S. 191 near Moab in Grand County, killing two. The driver was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
http://kutv.com/local/local_story_107153411.html