Illegal immigrant with lengthy rap sheet charged in deadly California car accident

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An illegal immigrant, who has been deported five times, caused a collision in Southern California last month that left one woman dead, police said.

Estuardo Alvarado, 45, allegedly slammed into the the back of Sandra Duran's car on Feb. 19 in North Hills, the LA Daily News reported Monday.

Alvarado was driving a 1999 Dodge Durango on a rain-stricken busy road when he attempted to pass other cars at a high rate of speed when he hit a parked car at a curb, police say. He struck Duran’s Toyota Camry while trying to flee the scene of the initial crash, police said.

Duran died at the scene of blunt force trauma, a medical examiner said.

Federal authorities told the newspaper that Alvarado is an illegal immigrant with a lengthy rap sheet that includes the deportations.

The 45-year-old Lakeview Terrace man was charged with five felony counts in connection to the accident, including murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said. Alvarado pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Alvarado had been on Immigration and Customs Enforcement's radar since 1998, when he was first deported, the LA Daily News reported.

Since 1990, Alvarado has been charged with more than 20 felonies and misdemeanors, according to the paper. Some of the cases reportedly include being a felon in possession of a weapon and the sale or transport of a controlled substance.

He had been convicted or pleaded guilty to several charges, including driving under the influence and misdemeanor hit-and-run, while others had been dismissed or not prosecuted for unknown reasons.

ICE is now planning to take action against Alvarado.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged a detainer against Mr. Alvarado seeking to take him into custody if and when he is released by local authorities in order to pursue follow-up enforcement action,” authorities told the newspaper.

Alvarado is being held at the Men’s Central Jail on $2.18 million bail, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department records. His next hearing is set for March 14.