Another One Gets Away

The case of Heriberto Estrada-Morales

First contact: December 8, 2008.  Arrest record number 08-12-1532.  He was arrested by the Elgin Illinois Police Department for driving with a suspended license.  At that time ICE identified him as being in the country illegally but did nothing about it.

Second contact:  January 9, 2009.  Arrest record number 09-01-1263.  He was arrested for driving without a license by EPD.  ICE once again identifies him  as an illegal alien, subject to deportation.  Once again, he was not picked up and detained by Immigration.

Then we lose track of Heriberto for a time.  Probably the police had contact with him but they stopped sharing the information with us…until March 6, 2011 when he went ballistic on us.

Here's the street in question:

 

 And the house before it was hit:

 

And after:

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110307/news/703079910/

There were jokes around town of him being a pilot in the Mexican Air Force.

This is one of Elgin’s old money neighborhoods.  Lots of large homes on large lots.

The house, which was for sale at the time, was finally repaired structurally and sold.  I believe it went for $325K.

We’ve lost track of Heriberto.  Some say he died in the hospital.  There was no follow-up coverage of the case in the press.

What we DO KNOW is that he was known to local police and Immigration but wasn't detained and deported before he wiped out a house, leaving the financial liability (and his emergency care costs) to others.