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ICE: Baskin Robbins Crash Suspect Is Illegal Alien

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Sep 9, 2008 10:54 am US/Mountain

ICE: Baskin Robbins Crash Suspect Is Illegal Alien

Reporting
Jodi Brooks
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) ― The man accused in a deadly hit and run accident in Aurora that killed three people is now being held under $250,000 bond. Police investigators will recommend charges to prosecutors on Wednesday.

Francis Hernandez, 23, appeared in court Monday morning. A judge advised him of his rights.

Police said they'll likely propose several charges including vehicular homicide.

Federal immigration agents say Hernandez may have been in this country illegally.

Immigration agents say Hernandez is a native of Guatemala and his photo has been matched to a file of illegal aliens that had not been checked until just recently. That provides no consolation for the man who lost his son while having ice cream at a Baskin Robbins.

The son of a political dissident in the former Soviet Union, Marat Kudlis lost his father to murder in the Ukraine, and now his son, Marten, to the accident in Aurora. Police say the accident was caused by Hernandez, who has been arrested more than a dozen times.

"I hope he never gets out of jail and nobody in Colorado, or in the whole U.S., any bond people, will give him any kind of money," Kudlis said.

Earlier this year Aurora police arrested Hernandez on a traffic offense. Suspecting he might be in the U.S. illegally, the Arapahoe Sheriff's Office contacted federal immigration authorities, but no detainer was issued.

"ICE never showed up at the jail to inquire into his citizenship," said Det. Bob Friel of the Aurora Police Department.

Officers contacted ICE again after last week's crash.

"What we do know is we contacted ICE on Friday the day after the accident and we received information that he was born in the United States," said Friel.

"The system let him out some kind of crack and the system didn't do what it was supposed to do and my son and the ladies paid the price," Kudlis said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it was a challenging case due to numerous aliases and repeated claims of U.S. citizenship by Hernandez. ICE never responded to requests for an explanation about why agents didn't check on his citizenship after the April 25 case.

Hernandez is accused of driving through a red light, crashing into a car killing the two ladies (Patricia Guntharp and Debra Serecky) inside the car, then he struck a utility box that careened into a restaurant killing Marten Kudlis.

At the scene, the outpouring of grief is evident in toys, flowers and words as well as tears.

"I just came to pay respect. It's so hard. The mom was here a little while ago and you know I hugged her and tried to comfort her," said memorial visitor Veronica Leyba.

One sign written in love reads, "Our hearts go out to all families who lose a child."

Marten Kudlis' funeral is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at Fairmount Cemetery near Alameda and Quebec. It is open to the public.

A fund for his family has also been set up at Bank of the West locations.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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