A Colombian national who tried to flee from police in Southern California now faces charges for causing a violent and fiery crash that left an innocent motorist dead and an elderly woman injured.
The driver, Darwin Felipe Bahamon Martinez, 21, is accused of killing a 59-year-old father during a high-speed pursuit in Placentia, Calif. The illegal immigrant was released under the Biden administration’s “catch-and-release” policies.
California and other sanctuary states continue to make headlines for their soft-on-crime policies that allow criminals and illegal alien offenders to be released back into the community or get behind the wheel of a vehicle and jeopardize public safety.
🚨 Orange County, CA: Illegal alien Darwin Felipe Bahamon Martinez has been arrested for Felony Evading Causing Death and Vehicular Manslaughter.
ICE has stated that he illegally entered the US in 2023.
Police say that Bahamon Martinez fled after officers attempted to pull him… pic.twitter.com/nrJvIPXzpV
— Illegal Alien Crimes (@ImmigrantCrimes) February 5, 2026
Martinez faces vehicular manslaughter and felony evading causing injury or death after driving recklessly and plowing his Jeep Gladiator into the 59-year-old man’s car. That driver, Jose Antonio Ramos Hernandez, died at the scene after his vehicle was struck during the chase.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged an arrest detainer against Martinez and confirmed he illegally entered the United States near Chula Vista, Calif., in August 2023.
BREAKING: ICE confirms to @FoxNews that the suspect arrested for allegedly killing an innocent 59-year-old man after crashing into his car during a police pursuit in Anaheim, CA is a Colombian illegal alien who was caught & released at the San Diego border by the Biden… pic.twitter.com/OSQMrigFkp
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 4, 2026
However, local authorities in California typically do not cooperate with ICE to transfer illegal immigrants charged or convicted of crimes into federal custody.
“He was released into the U.S. under the Biden administration’s so-called ‘catch-and-release’ policies, but if that hadn’t happened, the innocent 59-year-old driver he allegedly killed may still be alive today,” according to a statement from ICE Los Angeles field office leadership.
Martinez also hit a white minivan and injured an 83-year-old woman who was driving that vehicle, prompting additional charges for evading police causing injury and reckless driving, NBCLA 4 News reported last week. His next court appearance is scheduled for March 16 in Fullerton Superior Court.
The chase began around 7:40 p.m. on Jan. 21 after police officers in Anaheim attempted to pulled over a Jeep for erratic driving, according to a news release from the Anaheim Police Department and KTLA 5 News.
The Jeep’s driver, identified as Martinez, reportedly accelerated after he saw the police, hit a parked car and almost hit the officers’ car, per The Orange County Register.
Martinez initially stopped but as Anaheim officers approached the vehicle, he quickly sped off. A high-speed pursuit ensued from Anahaem into Placentia, where the Jeep crashed into a motorist in a Honda sedan at an intersection.
The collision caused a secondary crash with a Dodge van, driven by an 83-year-old female who was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Anaheim officials said.
Aerial footage from Sky5 showed the heavily damaged vehicles and debris scattered on the roadway, including a Jeep, a white van and a mangled silver sedan on the sidewalk.
Under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s leadership, sanctuary California is known for not honoring ICE detainers, which ultimately puts all Californians at risk, ICE officials said in a news release.
ICE lodged a detainer for Martinez with the Orange County Jail, where Martinez is being held on $2 million bail, according to various reports.
Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not honor ICE detainers force immigration officers to re-arrest criminal illegal offenders at-large.
“At-large arrests are significantly more dangerous than custody transfers are because they require ICE officers to arrest unpredictable criminal illegal aliens in public settings,” ICE said.
Fatal hit-and-runs and DUI crashes by illegal immigrants keep piling up in Newsom’s California, indicating leftist politicians don’t care about their failed policies that are killing innocent Americans.
Hector Balderas-Aheelor, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico who had been deported four times, was arrested Nov. 29 for a felony hit-and-run that killed an 11-year-old boy in Escondido, Calif.
The boy was playing near his home and attempted to retrieve a soccer ball when he was hit by a driver who fled the scene. He died from his injuries the following day on Thanksgiving morning.
In a separate case just days later, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, Bryan Josue Alva-Rodriguez, 25, was charged in connection with a deadly head-on collision that killed an 8-year-old California girl on Sunday, Nov. 30, Fox News Digital reported.
Alva-Rodriguez was previously charged with DUIs and had an outstanding 2023 deportation. He was arraigned in the hospital on Wednesday, Dec. 3 on murder, vehicular manslaughter and DUI charges, according to California Highway Patrol.
On Oct. 10, a 14-year-old Southern California high school student was struck by an alleged drunk driver while riding his bicycle and died two weeks later in the hospital.
Jose Abelardo Villegas-Orbe, 47, an illegal Mexican national, was charged with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI hit-and-run causing death plus a probation violation following the crash.
Villegas-Orbe, of Palm Springs, Calif., had two previous DUI arrests in California, but there was no effort made to deport Villegas-Orbe after the arrests. He remained in the country due to the Biden administration’s lenient immigration policies.
On Nov. 7, Orange County police arrested Humberto Munoz Gatica, a Mexican illegal alien, for driving drunk and killing a 71-year-old man who was walking in Dana Point, Calif., when he was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene.
Gatica, 57, of Laguna Niguel, faces charges of DUI causing death or bodily injury and hit-and-run causing death or bodily injury. He had an active deportation order since 2012, and he pleaded guilty to grand theft in 2011. He was released under the Obama administration with a notice to appear in court but never did.
In addition, California caters to illegal alien truck drivers who cannot pass English language proficiency requirements and other road sign tests.
On Oct. 21, Jashanpreet Singh, 21, was driving an 18-wheeler under the influence of drugs when he plowed into slow-moving traffic on Interstate 10 in Ontario, Calif., and killed three people and injured several others. The Indian national crossed the southern border in 2022 and was released by the Biden administration.
A recent audit by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that California unlawfully issued more than 17,000 nondomiciled commercial driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants in the state.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles initially agreed to cancel the 17,000 CDLs after the audit found the California DMV improperly issued the licenses with expiration dates beyond drivers’ work authorizations. However, they reneged after the truckers filed a class-action lawsuit.
