Pursued SUV with more than 20 people (illegal) overturns

SignonSanDiego.com ^ | September 29, 2003

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

An SUV believed to be carrying illegal immigrants evaded U.S. Border Patrol agents, then overturned on a desert highway, killing four people and leaving 17 others injured, authorities said.

Helicopters airlifted the injured to three hospitals and the highway briefly was closed.

The Chevrolet Suburban rolled over about 5:30 p.m. Sunday on westbound Highway 78 in Imperial County, about 20 miles north of the border, said Border Patrol spokesman William Robbins.

The driver, who was pinned behind the wheel, was taken to a hospital and was placed in custody, Robbins said. The driver, whose name was undetermined, may be arrested for smuggling and endangerment, he said.

Robbins said agents had signaled the sport utility vehicle with their lights and tried to stop it with a spike strip on a rural road near the highway. But the Suburban swerved around the tire deflation device and continued west.

After agents saw the driver continue, they stopped their pursuit, but followed the SUV at a distance in case it dropped off passengers, Robbins said.

Mexican officials in the past have criticized U.S. enforcement agencies for high-speed pursuits of suspected illegal immigrants. In March, two men died and 20 people were injured when a truck swerved to miss a California Highway Patrol spike strip and crashed on Interstate 8.

On Sunday, a game warden at Pichaco State Park saw undocumented immigrants being loaded into two vehicles. The park is heavily used by illegal immigrants trying to avoid a border patrol checkpoint near Andrade.

The vehicles circumvented the checkpoint, but authorities pursued them. Border Patrol agents discovered the Suburban a few miles ahead overturned with "bodies all over," Robbins said.

The second vehicle was found empty farther along the highway and those passengers were being sought.

An investigation was ongoing. Names of the dead and injured were not immediately determined by authorities.

The Border Patrol and CHP were interviewing the injured.

Robbins said agents were aware of past pursuit crashes and acted cautiously.

"We don't want to stay on top of them because we don't want to cause an accident," he said of ending pursuits.

The crash Sunday was the latest in a series of accidents involving smuggling of illegal immigrants that have left more than a dozen people dead in the last two years. In January, three women were killed and 12 people were injured when a pickup truck ran over a spike strip and then crashed into a guardrail. Last year, a van full of undocumented immigrants was traveling the wrong way in an attempt to evade a Border Patrol checkpoint when it struck four oncoming vehicles, killing six and injuring 16.

[dirtboy]

Helicopters airlifted the injured to three hospitals and the highway briefly was closed.

And who gets stuck with the bill for all this?

[LibFreeUSA]

- "An SUV believed to be carrying illegal immigrants ...

So, was the 'SUV' charged with anything??

[gubamyster]

ping

[RnMomof7]

Fox News called them "UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

I guess they have decided that they will back the legalization of the "undocumented immigrants "

The Mexicans have a protected status that is not given to other nations ..If I was from another nation and I had let my visa expire I would get a good attorney to argue that The government has no right to favor one illegal over another in the constitution

[cubreporter]

Yeah, what about all the trucks and smaller vehicles carrying illegals previously?

[saint]

"We don't want to stay on top of them because we don't want to cause an accident,"...

Yet if you're a citizen of the US they'll chase you, on city streets and busy highways.

[Modernman]

Here we go again. A note to all liberals: Our current insane immigration policy not only is bad for America, it's also responsible for the deaths of hundreds of unfortunate Mexican peasants evey year.

[Rick Deckard]

I've been camping in the Picacho area for years. Only recently have I heard about the back roads being used for alien smuggling. When I was at Picacho in July, the park ranger asked me if I saw a Suburban roar through camp loaded with people. That question surprised me. To get around the Border Patrol checkpoint at Winterhaven (just west of Yuma), the smugglers are driving on 40 miles of bad road to circumvent it. And my liberal friends wonder why I bring firearms with me when I'm out in the boonies.

[John Robertson]

Whenever you find yourself asking, Who pays for that?...it's you.

[Ready4Freddy]

"If I was from another nation and I had let my visa expire I would get a good attorney to argue that The government has no right to favor one illegal over another in the constitution.."

Except Cubans...?

[John Jorsett]

Fox News called them "UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

Since California is going to give them legal ID now, Fox is going to have to come up with a new term.

[John Jorsett]

And my liberal friends wonder why I bring firearms with me when I'm out in the boonies.

I thought it was illegal to bring firearms onto park land. Is this a case of "better to be tried by twelve than carried by six"?

[Servant of the 9]

Pursued SUV with more than 20 people (illegal) overturns

Were these Illegal aliens, or Circus Clowns?

So9

[King Prout]

biting tongue, not gonna say it, nope, nope, wouldn't be prudent...

[Elliott Jackalope]

'And who gets stuck with the bill for all this?"

Take a look in a mirror.

We should just change the name of this country from the US to "Treason, Inc."

[putupon]

If were smuggling aliens, I was use a pickup. If I remember correctly, they had a similar incident last week where they got 25 in a pickup.

[Clintons Are White Trash]

Geez, I've never been able to get more than 8 or 9 teenagers in my Suburban...what am I doing wrong?

[Joe Hadenuf]

Helicopters airlifted the injured to three hospitals and the highway briefly was closed.

While tax paying American citizens in need of medical help, are denied and wait in line behind illegal aliens......

[Joe Hadenuf]

Since California is going to give them legal ID now, Fox is going to have to come up with a new term.

May Bush and Fox can both come up with something clever.