Federal immigration authorities have lodged a detainer against a Salvadoran national currently held in North Carolina in connection with a hit-and-run crash that left three people dead.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) submitted the request on July 22 to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, asking local authorities to maintain custody of Javiel Pena Sola, 39, should he become eligible for release.
According to the Salisbury Police Department, the two-vehicle collision occurred on July 18 in Salisbury, North Carolina. Responding officers found two occupants of one vehicle deceased at the scene. A third occupant was airlifted to a hospital for emergency treatment but later died from their injuries.
Police located the second vehicle a short distance away. A police K-9 unit tracked the driver, identified as Pena Sola, after he fled the scene on foot. Following medical evaluation at a local hospital, Pena Sola was arrested and charged with three counts of felony hit-and-run involving serious injury or death.
DHS records indicate that Pena Sola claims to have entered the United States without authorization near Arizona in April 2002. His prior criminal record includes July 2015 convictions in Maryland for reckless endangerment, failure to stop after an accident involving damage to an attended vehicle, and driving without a license.
In March 2016, Baltimore authorities honored a previous ICE detainer and transferred Pena Sola to federal custody following his arrest for escaping custody. ICE released him two months later, in May 2016.
“This criminal illegal alien from El Salvador is facing felony charges after a hit-and-run that killed three people in North Carolina,” said Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis in a statement. “His criminal history includes prior convictions in 2015 for hit-and-run, reckless endangerment, and driving without a license. Although ICE had arrested him in 2016, the Obama Administration RELEASED him into American communities. These deaths were 100% preventable. Open borders and sanctuary policies have deadly consequences.”
Pena Sola remains held at the Rowan County Jail pending further judicial proceedings.
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