An illegal immigrant who was supposed to leave the country 20 years ago has been identified as the driver who struck a group of pedestrians in Nashville, Tennessee, injuring four people.
The suspect, Felipe Alvarado Hernandez, 47, fled the scene of the June 13 hit-and-run and remained at large for more than a month. He was arrested on July 29 after police used license plate reader technology to locate him.
Hernandez was driving with a revoked license and had an immigration record dating back to 2004, according to federal authorities.
ICE New Orleans lodged a detainer for Felipe Alvarado Hernandez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, arrested in a Nashville hit-and-run that injured four pedestrians, including two wheelchair users.
He faces 21 charges, including reckless endangerment and leaving the scene. https://t.co/iFTb017pYt pic.twitter.com/JrePd3ogk0— ICE New Orleans (@ERONewOrleans) August 3, 2026
Almost daily, an illegal immigrant driver makes the news for driving without a license, driving under the influence, or otherwise causing an accident that injures innocent Americans.
Hernandez fled the scene so there is no way to say whether he was driving under the influence, but he is accused of driving a pickup truck onto a sidewalk in downtown Nashville on June 13 and striking four people.
According to crash investigators, a white GMC Sierra pickup truck tried to make a left turn at the intersection of Demonbreun Street and Music Circle East. The driver cut it short, drove onto the sidewalk and struck a group of pedestrians.
Two of the pedestrians were in wheelchairs and were waiting to cross the street. One of the victims remained hospitalized at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Burn Unit as of late July, police said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New Orleans also lodged a detainer for Hernandez following his arrest.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department issued a news release identifying the suspect but omitted his immigration status.
The department credited “outstanding investigative work by the MNPD Traffic Division” for Hernandez’s arrest. It his second offense for driving on a revoked license, police said.
He was booked on 21 counts and charged driving on a revoked license as well as four counts each of reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of an accident resulting injury, failure to render aid, failure to provide financial responsibility, and failure to report an accident with injury.
Hernandez entered the country at an unknown date and location, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.
He agreed to leave the country on Jan. 5, 2004, after Michigan’s Roseville Police Department referred him to ICE following an arrest on a retail fraud charge that was later dropped, Fox News reported.
“When illegal aliens break our laws and endanger our communities, ICE will work with our law enforcement partners to ensure they face the consequences of their actions,” ERO New Orleans acting Field Office Director Scott Ladwig said in a statement.
According to Metro police, Hernandez was arrested at his Antioch home where his truck was also located. He admitted to driving it the morning of the crash during an interview with investigators.
One crash investigator “diligently worked to follow camera footage of the truck as it left the scene and saw it enter a parking garage down the street, which was equipped with LPR cameras,” according to the news release. Another officer, through a subpoena, obtained the vehicle’s identifying information.
Last month, Nashville officials announced a plea deal in another high-profile case involving the death of a Nashville restaurant owner.
The defendant, Ulises Raigoza-Martinez, was charged in the fatal hit-and-run involving restaurant owner, Matt Carney, in June 2024. Raigoza-Martinez, a suspect in other vehicle thefts, reportedly admitted that he stopped to steal tools from Carney’s pickup truck.
Carney confronted the suspected thieves and landed on the hood of Raigoza-Martinez’s vehicle before being thrown off. Carney suffered major head trauma and died of his injuries at the hospital on July 4, 2024.
Raigoza-Martinez, a Mexican national, said he illegally entered the United States through Texas in 2021. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, theft over $10,000, tampering with evidence, and theft over $2,500. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
