Police: Illegal Immigrant Responsible For Crash (WSMV-TN)

Police: Illegal Immigrant Responsible For Crash
Man's Legal Status Can't Be Investigated Due To Misdemeanor
Reported by Caroline Moses
POSTED: 4:04 pm CDT October 19, 2010

Metro police suspect a man responsible for a crash that killed a father and injured his daughter is an illegal immigrant, the Channel 4 I-Team has learned. But there's nothing police can do about it.

Police said the father and daughter were riding their motorcycle on Springfield Highway. Jose Vasquez told officers he did not realize they were next to him when he changed lanes in his SUV, hitting and killing them.

Victims of the family said they're furious because police can't do anything to investigate Vasquez's legal status because he's only been charged with not having a license, a misdemeanor.

Rickey Otts Jr. said his dad managed somehow in his 59 years on this earth to leave nothing unsaid.

"There was nobody that walked the face of this earth that was more American than my dad," Otts said.

It's why Otts is now speaking up against what ended his dad's life too soon, he said.

"My father served this country, and for him to lose his life because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, because somebody was behind the wheel that never should have been behind the wheel …" is wrong, Otts said.

Police and witnesses told the I-Team that Vasquez had no driver's license and no insurance. Police said they also suspect Vasquez is in this country illegally.

"The worst part about it all was seeing them walk away, seeing them be told that they could leave," said Otts.

The crash happened in the middle of the afternoon. Vasquez wasn't under the influence, police said. As far as police can tell, they said, it was an accident.

Vasquez is only charged with a misdemeanor for driving without a license, and authorities cannot check his citizenship unless charges against him become serious enough to put him in jail.

"In Nashville, our agreement with the federal government has always said (that) upon being physically arrested, brought to the jail, then your status is checked," said Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall. "At no other point can that occur."

That's frustrating for the Otts family, they said. They want the man they said killed their father to face fair but more severe consequences.

"It's a lot more than race, language barriers, jobs; it's lives, man," said Otts.

The district attorney's office is looking into whether more serious charges can be filed against Vasquez.

Tiffany Coe, Otts Sr.'s daughter, is still at Vanderbilt Hospital. She has two broken legs and a broken hip, but she is in stable condition. Otts Sr.'s funeral is Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Woodbine Funeral Home on Nolensville Road.