The man suspected of killing Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and Uber driver Jeffrey Monroe in a roadside crash is an illegal immigrant who has been deported two times in the past, Indiana State Police said Monday.
The driver is 37-year-old Guatemalan national Manuel Orrego-Savala. He gave police the alias Alex Cabrera Gonsales after being arrested for slamming into Jackson and Monroe as they stood on the shoulder of Interstate 70 early Sunday morning.
“Orrego-Savala is in the United States illegally and has previously been deported on two occasions, in 2007 and again in 2009,” Sgt. John Perrine said in a statement, according to the Indianapolis Star. “State police investigators are working with U.S. Federal Immigration Officials and they have placed a hold on Orrego-Savala.”
Jackson, 26, and Monroe, 54, were standing near a stopped vehicle when Orrego-Savala drove his Ford F-150 pickup onto the emergency shoulder and struck both men, according to police reports. Investigators believe Monroe had pulled over and exited the car to assist Jackson, who had become ill.
Orrego-Savala tried run away from the scene, but was apprehended on a nearby exit ramp, police said. He remains in custody in the Marion County Jail on charges of drunk driving, causing a death while driving intoxicated and driving without a license.
Republican Rep. Todd Rokita of Indiana said the incident illustrates the need to enact tougher immigration enforcement policies.
“The loss of life at the hands of illegal immigrant criminals should make all Hoosiers sad and ultimately angry,” he said in a statement Monday, according to Fox News. “We must do more to get these dangerous illegal immigrant criminals off of our streets, and guarantee this never happens again by building a wall, ending sanctuary cities, and stopping illegal immigration once and for all.”
Orrego-Savala first illegally entered the U.S. without inspection in July 2004, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman Nicole Alberico confirmed Monday evening. ICE officers arrested him in San Francisco in 2006, and after an immigration hearing, he was deported back to Guatemala in January 2007.
Just over two years later, ICE officers again arrested Orrego-Savala in San Francisco. He was deported to Guatemala a second time in May 2009.
Aside from his two prior deportations, Orrego-Savala was convicted in 2005 for driving under the influence in Redwood City, California, according to Alberico. He has additional criminal convictions in California and Indiana.
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