DENVER -- Outrage over a triple fatal accident allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant has prompted some lawmakers to try to close loopholes in communication between local, state and federal (immigration) law enforcement agencies.

Members of the Legislative Audit Committee asked the State Auditor Tuesday to make some recommendations for an audit of traffic laws and immigration enforcement.

The committee is acting because of anger over the Francis Hernandez case.

Hernandez is a young man who apparently came to this country legally as a child but who failed to keep up with his immigration paperwork as an adult.

Police said Hernandez already had 16 brushes with the law when he allegedly caused an accident that killed three people Sept. 4 including a little boy who was eating dessert at an ice cream shop in Aurora.

Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield, said the audit will help determine where the cracks are in the system.

"We owe it to the citizens, we owe it to the families," the Committee Vice-Chair said. "If we can rectify the situation so that it never happens again, that's what we need to do."

Aurora police said Hernandez, 23, ran a red light and hit a pickup truck broadside, sending it crashing into the ice cream store killing 3-year-old Marten Kudlis, and the two women in the truck, Patricia Guntharp, 49, and Debra Serecky, 51.

One of the reasons for the audit is that local police claimed they notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement that Hernandez was a suspected illegal immigrant.

ICE officials said they had no record of that communication.

"There were plenty of red flags there and it was total incompetence, in my opinion, by a number of law enforcement agencies," said Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-El Paso County.

Schultheis said the audit will like lead to a bill that will create interagency coordination on these issues.

"We can't afford any more catch and release policies," said Rep. Jim Kerr, R-Jefferson County. "We have to enforce the law. If we don't enforce the law, then the law has no value. There will be anarchy."

State Auditor Sally Symanski said one of the challenges to consider before conducting an audit is how to collect data from the local law enforcement agencies because they don't always share arrest information with each other.

Hernandez was arrested more than a dozen times since 2003 by nine law enforcement agencies, mostly for traffic misdemeanors, but that didn't guarantee a particular court would know of his previous record, Symanski said.

"I think this case clearly illustrated how communication is so vital to public safety," She added.

Since the state can't audit the federal government, Symanski also said they have to consider how to gather information about immigration enforcement from them.

"I would suggest you write a letter," Symanski said.

In a letter requesting the audit, state Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, asked for an investigation about "every 'crack' or 'gap"' in the immigration enforcement system.

Also joining in the request for an audit were Rep. Karen Middleton and Sen. Suzanne Williams, also Democrats from Aurora.

Gov. Bill Ritter also ordered a review two weeks ago from the state Department of Public Safety on immigration enforcement. He asked for solutions to the problem, saying the federal government has "failed to fix a broken system." That review is expected by the end of the year.

The Department of Public Safety includes the State Patrol, which legislators charged with creating an immigration unit in 2006. The troopers in the unit receive federal training to enforce immigration laws during the course of patrolling highways. ICE said 18 states have law enforcement agencies who have taken the training, and the estimated 800 officers in the program have made more than 68,000 arrests since 2006. ICE said the trained Colorado troopers have made 930 arrests.

Hernandez, who ICE said is from Guatemala, is in jail awaiting a preliminary hearing on charges that include leaving the scene of an accident, third-degree assault, and three counts of felony vehicular homicide.