Just days after Speaker Paul Ryan said he did not want to ‘clog jails’ with previously deported drunk driving illegal aliens, 14 year-old Giana Bartolucci, died Saturday from brain injuries caused by a twice deported drunk driving illegal alien in a head-on crash last Christmas Eve in Clarkson, New York, according to a statement by her parents posted to their church website.
…”Point three: what we have to figure out is how do we write Kate’s Law so that we’re not clogging up our jails so much for, say, DUI, but for the true violent criminals? … We need to get the details right so that we actually are going after the people that are doing this. … Trust me, you know we’re frustrated about this.”
Speaker Paul Ryan on The O’Reilly Factor, June 15, 2016, transcript via Breitbart (“Kate’s Law—named in honor of Kate Steinle—would increase the penalty for illegal immigrants who return to the U.S. after being deported.”.
Giana Bartolucci,image WHAM-TV via Twitter.
Bartolucci was riding with her father, Pastor Tony Bartolucci, to buy a Christmas tree around 6:00 p.m. when a car driven by Efrain Lopez-Contreras crossed over and collided head on with the Bartolucci’s vehicle.
The father and daughter were seriously injured and were rescued by good Samaritans. Lopez-Contreras walked away from the crash but was found by deputies hiding in a ditch after the rescuers tried to prevent him from leaving.
Giana Bartolucci died from complications following surgery to replace part of her skull last week. Her father was released from the hospital on Feb 2 whilst Giana was transferred to a brain injury rehabilitation unit that same month.
Efrain Lopez-Contreras, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office via WHEC-TV/Breitbart.
Lopez-Contreras is being held on bond by local authorities. ICE has placed a detainer on him in case he makes bail according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Lopez-Contreras, who is in this country illegally, was originally charged with first-degree vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated. He was remanded to Monroe County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond. He is still being held there.
He was indicted by a Monroe County grand jury in January of the following charges on more charges: including six counts of aggravated vehicular assault; two counts of second-degree assault; six counts of first-degree vehicular assault.
The Sheriff’s Office said he previously had been deported, and he would be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It’s unclear if he will face any new charges after Giana Bartolucci’s death.”
A news report by WHAM-TV shows the fiery aftermath of the now-deadly crash.
The Batavia Daily News reported Lopez-Contreras had a previous arrest for drunk driving at high speeds and had been previously deported two times but kept returning to Batavia, a town nearby Clarkson.
Efrain Lopez-Contreras should not have been driving the car that slammed into a pastor and his daughter who were on their way to get a tree Christmas Eve night in Clarkson.
Not only was he drunk but Lopez-Contreras, who apparently had been living at a residence on Elm Street in Batavia, had twice been deported.
And both times somehow managed to find his way back to Batavia.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Orleans County Sheriff’s Deputy David Foeller said. “He got deported after I arrested him.”
Foeller was aware of the Christmas Eve tragedy in Clarkson. But he wasn’t aware that the illegal alien now jailed in Monroe County was the same man he had arrested five years ago.
Foeller was on patrol on Route 31A in Barre one night in July 2010 when a car traveling west passed him at more than 80 mph.
Foeller turned and gave chase.
…Lopez-Contreras was arrested and charged with DWI, reckless endangerment and numerous traffic charges.
At the time, police had a warrant for his arrest and he was a known illegal alien.Foeller said he had a girlfriend in Batavia at the time.
Lopez-Contreras was eventually deported, the second time he had been dispatched from the country.
When and how he returned is a mystery and, chances are, he likely will be deported again.
An archived report by WHEC-TV stated Lopez-Contreras received 21 charges in the 2010 incident in Orleans County.
“According to documents obtained from the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office. Lopez-Contreras was arrested in 2010 and charged with 21 traffic violations. The arrest report states the Mexican national was driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles an hour and driving drunk.”
