An 18-year-old Honduran man who was arrested in connection to a two-vehicle crash that killed an adviser to Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., earlier this month was in the country illegally, having been detained at the border in 2021 and then let go, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tells Fox News Digital.
The illegal immigrant, Elmer Rueda-Linares, was involved in the deadly crash that took the life of father-of-one-Kurt Englehart in the early hours of April 6. The collision occurred on Kietzke and Peckham Lanes, about five miles south of Downtown Reno, Nevada.
Rueda-Linares was initially charged with a felony hit-and-run, but that has been changed to failing to stop at the scene of an accident, the Reno Gazaette Joyrbal reported, citing the sheriff’s office. He is being held at Washoe County Jail in Reno on $100,000 bail.
Federal officers placed an immigration detainer on Rueda-Linares on April 8.
ICE told Fox News Digital that Rueda-Linares entered the U.S. on March 12, 2021, at or near the Rio Grande City, Texas, Port of Entry without inspection by an immigration official.
Border Patrol arrested him, and he was later released on his own recognizance on June 22, 2021.
