A communication breakdown between the Denver Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resulted in an illegal immigrant charged with vehicular homicide bonding out of jail and evading ICE detainment, according to KDVR-TV.
Police arrested Ivan Zamarripa-Castaneda, 26, and charged him with vehicular homicide-DUI and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death after fleeing the scene of an accident that killed a 57-year-old semitruck driver March 3.
ICE requested custody of Zamarripa-Castaneda for deportation, but the Denver Sheriff’s Office would not turn him over without a federal criminal warrant because courts ruled in 2014 that it is illegal for Colorado state authorities to hold suspected illegal immigrants past their normal release time solely due to immigration status.
Zamarripa-Castaneda posted $25,000 bail Saturday. The Denver Sheriff’s Department notified ICE, but not until more than an hour after Zamarripa-Castaneda bonded out.
ICE Denver Field Office Director Jeffrey Lynch said ICE is working with the sheriff’s office to figure out what went wrong, and how to avoid similar situations in the future.
The sheriff’s department said it is conducting an internal review to figure out why the notification to ICE happened after Zamarripa-Castaneda was already released.
Zamarripa-Castaneda is due in court for a preliminary hearing April 2.
Aaron Colen
Aaron is a former staff writer for TheBlaze. He resides in Denton, Texas, and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a Master of Education in adult and higher education.