Driver of Bus That Killed La. Fire Chief Charged With Negligent Homicide

Aug. 30--The man accused of crashing a party bus on Interstate 10 in LaPlace Sunday, killing two people and injuring 32 others, has a history of getting behind the wheel without a driver's license.

Denis Amaya-Rodriguez, 37, a Honduran native who entered the country illegally, has received at least five citations for driving without license, in addition to other traffic infractions, in Jefferson Parish since 2012, according to court records.

State Police most recently cited him Aug. 5 during a traffic stop on I-10 at Clearview Parkway in Metairie after a trooper pulled him over because his temporary tag was not visible.

Amaya-Rodriguez's arrest and the tragedy surrounding the crash have become part of the divisive political debate over immigration policies in the United States as many ask why he escaped the notice of federal authorities despite his encounters with local law enforcement.

Speeding bus

Amaya-Rodriguez was arrested Sunday and booked with two counts of negligent homicide, reckless operation of a vehicle and driving with no license.

A speeding party bus he was operating hit a fire truck that was blocking the highway and protecting the scene of an earlier crash on westbound I-10 just past the Belle Terre Boulevard exit in LaPlace, State Police said.

The bus then rear-ended a Toyota Camry, killing backseat passenger Jermaine Starr, 21, of Moss Point, Miss. The bus veered over to the right side of the interstate and hit three St. John the Baptist Parish firefighters standing on the roadway,. The force of the impact knocked them over the side of the bridge into canal waters about 30 feet below.

St. John Fire District Chief Spencer Chauvin, 36, of Gramercy, was pronounced dead after he was taken to a nearby hospital. Firefighter William Mack Beal, 35, suffered moderate injuries. Firefighter Nicholas Saale, 32, was in stable condition Monday at University Medical Center in New Orleans.

The other injured include the occupants of the Camry and a pick-up truck hit by the bus, as well as 24 of Amaya-Rodriguez's passengers, State Police said.

Despite having no driver's license or a commercial vehicle designation, Amaya-Rodriguez was driving the rented party bus full of day laborers headed to work in the flood-devastated Baton Rouge area.

No license

The State Police trooper who issued Amaya-Rodriguez's most recent citation noted he's never had a driver's license.

It's not clear how long Amaya-Rodriguez has been in the country. But law enforcement has been citing him for driving without a license in Jefferson Parish since 2012. Those incidents include:

• Sept. 16, 2012: State Police cite him with having no license during a traffic stop on Interstate 10 and Bonnabel Boulevard in Metairie. He paid $359.75 in court fines and fees.
• Jan. 15, 2013: The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office cites him with driving without a license, failure to maintain control of his vehicle and improper lane usage at Tolmas Drive and West Esplanade Avenue in Metairie. He paid $541.75 in court fines and fees.
• Feb. 24, 2014: The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office cites Amaya-Rodriguez with driving without a license and two counts of failure properly restrain a child in the 5900 block of Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie. The improper restraint counts were dismissed, but he paid $261.25 in court fines and fees.
• April 26, 2014: The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office cites him with driving without a license and making an improper right turn following a traffic crash on Cleary and West Metairie avenues in Metairie. The district attorney's office dismissed the improper lane change charge. He pleaded guilty to having no license and paid $312.25 in court fines and fees. Amaya-Rodriguez filed a civil suit in Jefferson Parish's 1st Parish Court against the other driver in the crash seeking damages for injuries. But a judge ruled against Amaya-Rodriguez on Jan. 7, siding with the other driver's insurance company, which asserted that Amaya-Rodriguez was at fault.
• Aug. 5, 2016: State Police cite him with driving without a license on In-10 at Clearview Parkway. Amaya-Rodriguez is due back in court on Oct. 5.

Immigration controversy

Amaya-Rodriguez was being held Tuesday at the St. John the Baptist Parish jail in lieu of a $1.1 million bond. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued detainer requesting that local law enforcement notify them before he is released from state custody.

As the contentious debate over national immigration policies continues, the case has already taken on political tones, considering Amaya-Rodriguez's undocumented status and his history of traffic violations.

State Attorney General Jeff Landry issued a statement Tuesday calling for "sound immigration policy" in the wake of the fatal crash.

"Amaya-Rodriguez has been encountered by law enforcement over a half a dozen times in the last five years, yet he continued to roam the streets until he took two lives," Landry said, referencing the citations as well as a 2011 arrest for domestic abuse battery in Jefferson Parish. Those charges were dismissed in 2012.

It was not clear Tuesday whether federal immigrations officials had ever had contact with Amaya-Rodriguez following that 2011 arrest. But the traffic infractions that followed likely would not have garnered any attention from federal authorities, according to experts.

With limited resources, ICE focuses its efforts on removing violent offenders and those who are threat to national and border security as well as public safety. "Aliens convicted of crimes involving violence are among ICE's highest priority for removal from the country," Spokesman Thomas Byrd said.

Traffic violations for driving without a license aren't listed in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's immigration enforcement priority protocol, released November 2014.

"This is the framework for deciding who should be in removal proceedings," said Kenneth Mayeaux, an immigration attorney and former director of the Louisiana State University Law Center Immigration Clinic.

Amaya-Rodriguez likely also avoided the attention of federal immigration officials because he wasn't arrested and taken into custody. ICE officials monitor local jail populations for foreign nationals. But the agency simply doesn't have the resources to track every single citation issued by law enforcement.

"If all he ever had was summonses, and he paid them, then he just wouldn't have gotten onto ICE's radar," Mayeaux said.

Sanctuary city

Landry also took a swing at New Orleans officials' recent decision to prohibit New Orleans Police Department officers from asking about an individual's immigration status. Landry labeled the New Orleans area as a "sanctuary city," a political term used to refer to municipalities where law enforcement does not cooperate with federal immigration officials.

But Mayeux argued that Jefferson Parish, Amaya-Rodriguez's actual place of residence and the jurisdiction where he received all of citations, is by no means a sanctuary city.

"I can tell you there is a very robust cooperation between ICE and the Jefferson Parish Sherfiff's Office to identify persons who are in the country unlawfully," Mayeaux said. "(ICE) issues detainers and Jefferson Parish honors those detainers."

Amaya-Rodriguez will remain in custody until the adjudication of his criminal case in St. John. ICE will not step in until he has served whatever sentence is ordered, if convicted, according to Mayeaux.

"Ice will come and pick him up and the process will begin at that point," he said.

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