Thread: Police charge man with drunk driving in E-town accident

Police charge man with drunk driving in E-town accident that killed toddler .

WHAS11.com
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 5:51 AM

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WHAS11)- Police say a Louisville man was driving drunk when he crashed his vehicle and killed a 2-year-old girl.

Kentucky State Police say the SUV was headed south when the driver, Arturo Rodriguez, lost control and hit the cable barrier, rolling the SUV into the northbound lanes around 5:30 p.m. Friday, just north of the Glendale exit on I-65, near Elizabethtown.

The impact threw the 2-year-old from the car, killing her.

She was not in a car seat.

Rodriguez and his passenger, Silena Smith of Louisville, were flown by helicopter to University Hospital. Her condition has not been released.

Rodriguez is now at the Hardin County Detention Center.

He is charged with murder, DUI, driving without a license and driving without insurance, and not putting the girl in a child restraint.

http://www.whas11.com/news/crimetracker/126054794.html

Child identified in fatal I-65 accident
Posted: Jul 23, 2011 3:16 PM EDT

Louisville, Ky. (WDRB) -- Police say on Friday, Arturo Rodriguez was driving south on I-65 when he crossed the median and entered the northbound lanes before his car overturned.

A 2-year-old girl was ejected and killed.

The Hardin County coroner says that girl, Sidolena Martinez , was the daughter of the driver.

We're told she is from Carrolton, Kentucky.

As for Rodriguez, he's charged with murder, DUI, driving without a license or insurance, and failure to use child restraint.

He and a passenger were airlifted to University Hospital.

-----

Elizabethtown, Ky. (WDRB) -- On Friday, July 22, 2011 Troopers were dispatched to single vehicle collision involving a fatality on I-65 south bound near the 86 mile post.

Arturo Rodriguez, of Louisville was traveling south on I-65 when he lost control of his vehicle, and entered the median. The vehicle crossed over into the north bound lanes of I-65 where it overturned.

A two-year old female passenger was ejected from the vehicle, and was pronounced deceased at the scene. Arturo Rodriguez and a female passenger, Silena Smith, also of Louisville were transported by air ambulance to University of Louisville Hospital.

Arturo Rodriguez was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision. He was arrested and charged with Murder, DUI, No operator's license, no insurance, and failure to use child restraint in a vehicle.

He was released from the hospital, arrested, and lodged in the Hardin County Detention Center. The collision remains under investigation.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/15135343/vict ... l-accident

Man charged with murder also an illegal immigrant

Monday, July 25, 2011 at 11:32 am
The Louisville man charged with murder and driving under the influence was arraigned in Hardin District Court Monday morning.


MARTINEZ
Arturo Rodriguez Martinez, 22, was arrested Friday night following a single-car wreck on Interstate 65 near the 86-mile marker that resulted in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Sidolena Martinez. She was not in a child restraint at the time of the accident, police say.

Martinez speaks very little English, said Maj. John Timbers of the Hardin County Detention Center. The jail is looking for an interpreter but in the meantime is using inmates who speak Spanish to translate for them.

Timbers said Martinez also faces a U.S. immigration hold. Martinez is an illegal immigrant.

A probable cause hearing is set for Aug. 3.

http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/conten ... -immigrant

Man appears in court on murder, DUI charges

Posted: Aug 03, 2011 10:32 AM EDT
Updated: Aug 03, 2011 1:04 PM EDT

, KY. (WDRB) -- A fight between a couple over how to discipline their child ends with a deadly crash. Arturo Rodriguez Martinez is charged with the murder of his 2-year-old daughter.

A state trooper testified during a preliminary hearing today that Martinez was driving drunk on July 22nd, headed south on I-65 from Louisville.

That's when police say around Glendale he crashed into the median, flipping the car. His daughter was ejected and died at the scene. Police say the girl was sitting on her mother's lap and not wearing a seat belt.

Troopers say the couple had been fighting about how to discipline their daughter when Martinez took the toddler and put her in his black Escalade. The mother jumped into the car after her daughter.

Martinez is charged with murder, DUI, driving without a license, and failure to use a child restraint. The case now moves to the grand jury.

Police say drivers on I-65 called 911 to report Martinez's erratic driving. She was still on the phone with dispatchers when the crash happened.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/15201112/man- ... ui-charges

2-year-old killed in July 22 wreck
By Sarah Bennett
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 1:15 pm (Updated: August 4, 5:09 am)

The faint sound of a woman speaking Spanish filled the lulls in questioning at Wednesday’s probable cause hearing for Arturo Rodriguez Martinez, an illegal immigrant charged with murder and driving under the influence.

The sound originated from a set of headphones that covered Martinez’s ears. It stopped only when Hardin District Judge John Simcoe declared the commonwealth met the burden of probable cause.

The commonwealth’s witness, Kentucky State Police Trooper Brad Riley, said he was on patrol in Grayson County on July 22 when he received a call to report to a wreck at mile-marker 87 on Interstate 65.

According to an eyewitness, Martinez’s vehicle was traveling southbound when it entered the grass median, Riley said. After traveling in the median, it returned to the roadway where Martinez, the alleged driver, overcorrected, causing the vehicle to re-enter the median and strike a cable barrier.

“(The eyewitness) said it was done in a reckless manner that caused attention,â€

Related Thread
Update:Toddler dies in I-65 wreck
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-244689.html