DENVER — A suspected hit-and-run driver arrested following a fatal crash on Interstate 70 in Denver is in the country illegally and is now facing deportation to Mexico, according to officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On Monday, ICE issued an immigration detainer on Ivan Gerardo Zamarripa-Castaneda, 26, following his arrest of vehicular homicide.
Police said Zamarripa-Castaneda was driving a pickup in the eastbound lanes of I-70 when he collided with a semi near I-25 just after midnight early Sunday morning.
The semi caught fire after the crash and the driver, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police caught up with Zamarripa-Castaneda more than 12 hours later at his home. Officers said he fled the crash scene before police arrived and without offering any kind of assistance.
Zamarripa-Castaneda is being held at the Denver Jail where the ICE detainer request was received Monday.
Detainers “serve as a legally authorized request, upon which a law enforcement agency may rely, to continue to maintain custody of an alien for up to 48 hours so that ICE may assume custody for removal purposes.”
