Driver In Fatal Gainesville Crash May Face Deportation: Report

GAINESVILLE, VA — Federal authorities have accused the driver in a deadly SUV crash in Gainesville with living in the country illegally, according to a media report. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed a detainer on Vicente Martir Vides Vazquez, 21, who is from Guatemala, WJLA-TV Channel 7 reported Tuesday.

Vides Vazquez, 21, of Warrenton, is being held without bond in the Prince William-Manassas regional jail on involuntary manslaughter and other charges.

In a statement to Channel 7, ICE said a detainer is a request to law enforcement to hold an individual if the agency has probable cause to believe that he or she may be subject to deportation.

At around 2:30 a.m. Monday, he was driving a Toyota 4Runner on James Madison Highway in Gainesville when the vehicle flipped over and crashed. The Prince William County police said Vides Vazquez may have been drinking and speeding at the time of the accident.

A passenger in the backseat, Jose Nelvin Romero Maldonado, 38, of Warrenton, was killed when he was ejected from the vehicle. Maldonado was not wearing a seatbelt, the police said.

Vides Vazquez fled the scene, prompting a search around Gainesville by Prince William police. They combed the woods Monday near the crash scene with a K-9 team and the aid of a Fairfax County police helicopter with heat-seeking equipment, Channel 7 repoorted.

At about 1 p.m., Fauquier County police spotted Vazquez walking along a road and detained him without incident. Along with involuntary manslaughter, the Prince William police charged Vides Vazquez with hit and run causing death and driving without a license.

The SUV's front-seat passenger, a 30-year-old Warrenton man, sustained minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital.

Image: Vicente Martir Vides Vazquez (PWCPD)