'A Christmas Story' director Bob Clark holds the famous 'leg lamp' from his holiday classic in this 2003 photo (courtesy Warner Home Video)
Posted on 04/08/2007 4:20:35 PM PDT by ckilmer
NVASION USA
Illegal detained in death of 'Christmas Story' director
Bob Clark, son die in collision with SUV driven by Mexican
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
'A Christmas Story' director Bob Clark holds the famous 'leg lamp' from his holiday classic in this 2003 photo (courtesy Warner Home Video) |
An illegal alien suspected of causing a traffic accident and killing movie director Bob Clark, whose "A Christmas Story" has come alongside "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street" as a perennial holiday must-watch, has been placed under an immigration hold by federal authorities.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency placed the hold on Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, a Mexican national who was living in Los Angeles as an illegal immigrant, according to a report from Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee.
Agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the hold means Valezquez-Nava, when his Los Angeles court proceedings are completed, will be turned over to federal immigration officials and put into deportation proceedings.
(Story continues below)
In Los Angeles, he was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular manslaughter, and was being held on $100,000 bail. If he were able to post bail, he would still be held in custody, but by federal authorities, Kice reported.
Police have reported they believe Velazquez-Nava was driving his sport utility vehicle and steered it into the wrong lane on the Pacific Coast Highway early Wednesday. He struck Clark's car head-on, and police say Clark and his son, Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Velazquez-Nava was tested and had a 0.24 percent blood-alcohol level about the time of the accident, which would be three times what the state law considers enough to be presumed to be driving drunk.
Velazquez-Nava reportedly was driving without a license, and he and a passenger, identified as Lidia Mora, 29, were treated for minor injuries.
ALIPAC reported Velazquez-Nava didn't have any previous deportations but had been convicted in 2004 in Los Angeles of soliciting a prostitute. Court records revealed he was given 24 months probation and a $1,500 fine after pleading no contest.
Clark's big success came from his work on the 1983 production of "A Christmas Story," which tells of the campaign by a 1940s youngster, Ralphie Parker, played by Peter Billingsley, to get a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas.
It also tells how his "Old Man," played by Darren McGavin, wins a "major award," which is revealed to be a lamp shaped like a woman's leg wearing fishnet stockings.
Earlier, Clark had specialized in horror films and thrillers, such as the 1970s, "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things," and "Murder by Decree." In 1981, he released the sex farce "Porky's" and then in 1983 did the adaptation of Jean Shepherd's memoirs.
According to the Times article, Ariel was studying music at Santa Monica College.
Lyne Leavy, who headed Clark's production company, Film Classic Productions, said they often were together at night, and were on the highway early Wednesday, although it was unclear whether they were going to get something to eat or going to Ariel's apartment in nearby Santa Monica.
"[Clark] was a gentleman, one of the nicest people I knew," his New York business manager, Stuart Ditsky, told the Times. "He always kept his word. He would never hurt anybody or put in anything in his movies to embarrass anyone."
WND has reported on the growing list of illegal immigrants who have not only ignored U.S. immigration laws, but state laws against drinking and driving as well, killing innocents on the highways in the process, including:
 Alfredo Ramos |
Alfredo Ramos: A Mexican national in the U.S. illegally, Ramos was convicted of driving while intoxicated last year, but that didn't keep him from being behind the wheel after a night of drinking last weekend – and now two teenage girls are dead because of it. According to police, Ramos, 22, slammed the 1998 Mitsubishi he was driving into the rear of a 1994 Plymouth driven by Allison Kunhardt, 17, Friday night in Virginia Beach, Va. Kunhardt and her best friend Tessa Tranchant, 16, were stopped at a traffic light when they were hit from behind. Although both wore seat belts, both died – one at the scene and one after arriving at the hospital. Ramos, charged with manslaughter for the two deaths, was convicted last year of public drunkenness in Virginia Beach and driving under the influence in Chesapeake.
 Carlos Prieto |
Carlos Prieto: Suspected illegal alien from Mexico was held in the Salt Lake County jail after running a red light and broadsiding a family of six, killing three, on Christmas Eve 2006. The charging documents say his blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit. The Ceran family, active in local theater and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were returning home after attending a performance of Dicken's "The Christmas Carol," which featured several family members, when their car was struck by a truck driven by Carlos Prieto. The crash killed Cheryl Ceran, 47, and two of her children, 15-year-old Ian and 7-year-old Julinna. Cheryl Ceran's husband, Gary Ceran, 45, and their 19-year-old daughter, Clarissa, and 12-year-old son, Caleb, were injured.
 Marine Cpl. Brian Mathews |
Eduardo Raul Morales-Soriano: When this illegal alien, working as a landscaper in Maryland, killed Marine Cpl. Brian Mathews, 21, and his date, Jennifer Bower, 24, on Thanksgiving night, 2006, it wasn't his first accident where alcohol was apparently involved. Nine months before, he was issued four citations and sent home with a friend after a single-car accident when he refused a Breathalyzer test. A policeman's error resulted in Morales-Soriano – who took advantage of North Carolina's easy rules to obtain his driver's license in 2004 – getting his license returned. On the night he killed the young couple, police say his blood alcohol level was measured at .32 – four times the legal level in Maryland for intoxication. Mathews had served 8 months in Iraq and completed another tour of duty in the Pacific.
 Deputy Loren Lilly |
Joel Perea and Maurilio Herrera: Police took this death hard – it was one of their own. Deputy Loren Lilly, who had been with the Cobb County Sheriff's Office for 18 years, was pronounced dead at the scene after his Honda Accord flipped several times after being struck by a Ford Taurus driven by Perea. "Obviously, being in law enforcement, none of us wants to roll up and see one of our fellow officers or deputies on the scene as well," said one cop. 27-year-old Perea and his passenger, Herrera, 23 fled the scene before being captured.
 Jorge Humberto Hernandez-Soto |
Jorge Humberto Hernandez-Soto: Police say was driving more than 100 mph on the wrong side of Interstate 485 when he collided head-on with the car of 18-year-old Min Soon Chang, a freshman from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, killing him. According to authorities, the illegal alien had already been sent back to Mexico 17 times and convicted of impaired driving at least a couple of times before the November 2005 crash.
 Jose Trejo Encino |
Jose Trejo Encino: The 27-year-old illegal alien from Mexico admitted to deputies, at the scene of the November 2006 single car accident that killed one of his passengers and injured another, "to drinking a 12-pack of beer earlier in the night," but not before first trying to throw the cans of beer he still had in his car into the woods before police arrived.
Luis Oscar Garcia: Police said Garcia had a strong odor of alcohol on his person and that his pants were soaked with a liquid that indicated the presence of alcohol when he ran a red light and killed 18-year-old James F. Rogers Jr. of North Jackson, Tenn., in August 2006. The 24-year-old Mexican had been living in the U.S. without a green card for three years.
 Marcos Ramos Medina. Courtesy Yakima Herald Republic |
Marcos Ramos Medina: The 35-year-old Mexican had twice been deported when, on Aug. 4, 2005, his car swerved several times across the center line, causing a tractor-trailer rig to jackknife in Yakima, Wash. His car then plowed head-on into the 2000 Lexus driven by Peggy Keller, 53, dean of distance education at Yakima Valley Community College, killing her at the scene. Medina, who was found to have at least eight aliases and falsely identified himself at his first court appearance, escaped serious injury. The case against the Mexican national was declared a mistrial in August 2006 because his constitutional right to remain silent had been violated. It took a second jury only 30 minutes to find Medina guilty three months later.
Miguel Garduno Gonzalez: The 43-year-old was accused of causing an accident near Lakeland, Fla., on Aug. 2, 2006, that left Haines City police officer Phoenix Braithwaite, 24, dead. Gonzalez was driving a van that while passing two trucks on U.S. 17-92 in Osceola County near the Polk County line hit the officer, who was on his way to work. Braithwaite, who was riding his motorcycle, was hit head-on and died at the scene. Gonzalez, an illegal immigrant, was not hurt and fled the scene. Two passengers in the van also were not hurt also are illegal immigrants. Gonzalez was being held without bail and the two others were held as material witnesses.
 Pastor Rios Sanchez |
Pastor Rios Sanchez: Despite having pleaded guilty to driving without a license in 2005, and similar counts in March and April of 2006, Sanchez was still on the road on Oct. 27, 2006, when he crossed the yellow line near Sanford, N.C., and collided head-on with a stationwagon carrying Helen Meghan Hughes, 22, of Summerville, S.C., Jennifer Carter, 18, of Jacksonville, N.C., and Hughes' stepbrother, 16-year-old Ben Leonard. All three were killed. The 55-year-old illegal alien was allegedly drunk and carrying a forged residency card.
 Ramiro Gallegos |
Ramiro Gallegos: In July 2005, Gallegos had already been charged on three separate occasions with drunk driving. His fourth offence caused the death of Scott Gardiner of Mount Holly, N.C., a father of two young children, when the Mexican citizen's truck struck Gardner's station wagon as he drove his family to the coast for vacation.
Vitalina Bautista Vargas bids farewell to husband in court (courtesy Chattanoogan)
Vitalina Bautista Vargas: Neighbors of Louella Winton said the van driven by Vargas, an illegal alien from Mexico, never slowed down before plowing through Winton's home, knocking the 91-year-old woman, who had been asleep in bed, against the wall of the house next door and leaving her under the vehicle outside the house. Winton died of complications from her injuries.
As WND has reported, the mayhem on America's highways isn't limited to illegals who drive only while intoxicated.
Little caution, critics say, is being exercised when it comes to preventing mayhem on America's highways as the country witnesses record high numbers of unlicensed, unregistered, uninsured drivers – millions of whom are illegal aliens.
While no one – in or out of government – tracks traffic accidents caused by illegal aliens, the statistical and anecdotal evidence suggests many of last year's 42,636 road deaths involved illegal aliens.
A report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Study found 20 percent of fatal accidents involve at least one driver who lacks a valid license. In California, another study showed that those who have never held a valid license are about five times more likely to be involved in a fatal road accident than licensed drivers.
Statistically, that makes them an even greater danger on the road than drivers whose licenses have been suspended or revoked – and nearly as dangerous as drunk drivers.
How come WND doesn’t add in the truckloads of illegals that have been butchered when their vans flipped or they cooked inside?
This is powerful image stuff.
coyotes have killed illegals. But the illegals have killed many many more americans than they coyotes. Both the Mexican & American governments collude to cover up the killings.
The MS-13 gangs in Los Angeles are really just mis-understoood young men who deserve our love and compassion while they rape and murder our wives and daughters, burn down homes, and kill homeowners.
I plan on having a cookout on May 5th and will be inviting every illegal immigrant I know to come over and celebrate their holiday and bring American flags to burn in my back yard.
careful now - you’re gonna upset jerry riviera....
heavy sarc/
But these illegal immigrants just want to come to our great nation to live peacefully like everyone else right? I mean, illegal immigration is a victimless crime isn’t it? I agree, why can’t we all just get along?
What utter BS. Next time someone calls me on illegal immigration I’m gonna show them this article
One would think that the death of one of Hollywood’s own would bring more attention to the issue. It hasn’t happened yet.
“will be turned over to federal immigration officials and put into deportation proceedings.”
Apparently, an illegal alien has got to commit homicide before he’s deported. And maybe even that would not be enough, unless the victim is a famous Hollywood director.
And it won’t. It’s not cool in Hollywood to be against illegal immigration. And so, they will ignore it.
susie
You said it, brother.
I’ve had it with illegals, our government and the Mexican government. I no longer say hello to illegals or treat them with any respoect whatsoever. I have the same attitude towards politicians.
Social anarchy is coming over this issue and not only is our government is too stupid to see it... its laying the foundation for it.
Cut off his food stamps.
Pictures of top 10 most wanted in LA. Up until recent stories about crime in LA posted by the LA Times--the pictures included the nationality of the murderers. They were all foreign nationals and mostly Mexican.
Wanted for Murder in New York City.
Chicago wanted for Murder
Philadelphia wanted for murder
New Orleans wanted for Murder
Pictures of suspects wanted for murder in Washington DC
FBI USA 10 most wanted. (two of 10 are Mexican nationals)
There are currently no exact numbers on the number of Americans killed by illegals. Part of the reason is that the government deliberately obscures the number. I talked on the phone with the head of statistics for the US Bureau of Prisons. He said his office wasn't allowed to publish the number of illegal alien murderers. Rather they were forced to put legal and non legal residents in the same category. I talked to ICE. They put out detailed numbers on illegal child molestors. However, they put out nothing on illegal murderers.
Part of the reason for the silence on the matter is that there is evidence to suggest that most Americans being killed by illegals are black--as is the suggestion in this LA Times Article.
All that said, it could be argued that if you include the number of illegals in state and local prisons the number of illegals in jail shrinks to 6% of the total prison population. Never the less if you multiply 16692 (the number of americans murdered in 2005) * .06 (illegal alien percent of total prison population) * 4 (the number of years the US has been in Iraq). The result is that more americans (4006) have been killed by illegals than have been killed in the Iraq war.
Illegal Alien Apologist List ping.
Come tell us how we are racist, mean-spirited and wrong for being critical of this situation and those who either come here illegally or make it possible.
I’ve held a California Driver’s license for over 30 years now, and in all that time, I’ve had three accidents: twice rear-ended in freeway traffic (saw them coming, but had nowere to go), and once standing at red light in a left turn pocket in Glendale (didn’t see this guy first).
In all three cases, the drivers were a) unlicensed and b) uninsured. There’s a high correlation between being in this country illegally, and driving w/o a license or insurance, so I’ve always assumed that my guys were just rear-ending the vehicles that Americans refused to...
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