An illegal immigrant who crashed into a Washington state police car, killing the officer inside, had previously been arrested on domestic violence charges, officials say.
Raul Benitez Santana, 32, was arrested last Saturday after a fatal shooting that claimed the life of 27-year-old Officer Christopher Gadd.
According to King County court documents obtained by KTTH’s “The Jason Rantz Show,” Santana was previously accused of assaulting his girlfriend, identified by the initials “MC,” who was also the mother of his then-5-month-old child. I know that he was arrested.
Ice: Man who illegally crashed into and killed a Washington State Patrol trooper in the US
Raul Benitez Santana is accused of crashing his car into a police cruiser, killing a Washington State Patrol trooper. (FOX13 Seattle)
According to documents, MC told police that the confrontation began after Santana got into an argument over a text message she received from another woman.
MC reported that after throwing Santana’s cell phone, he began hitting her multiple times. She suffered extensive damage to her face, including a broken nose and swollen left eye. A non-felony plea agreement from Santana was accepted in May 2019.
After the arrest, officers noticed irregularities on Santana’s personal identification record.
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King County became a sanctuary county in 2013 and Washington State became a sanctuary state in 2019 to resist then-President Donald Trump’s efforts to tighten restrictions on illegal immigration in the United States.
“The investigation leading up to the arrest yielded multiple identification documents with altered identifying information, including various names and social security numbers,” the case documents state.
Santana was arrested last week after a fatal car crash and is being held on $1 million bail on suspicion of fatally crashing his car into a Washington State Patrol trooper.
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Washington State Patrol Trooper Christopher M. Gadd, 27, served two and a half years. He is survived by his wife and daughter, parents, sister and other family members. (Washington State Patrol)
Gadd, who was on the lookout for speeding and drunk drivers, was killed in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 5 around 3 a.m. Saturday.
An investigation into the crash revealed that the SUV Santana was driving was traveling southbound on the interstate when it veered off the road and struck a trooper’s patrol car.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office reportedly found that the SUV was traveling at a high rate of speed when it collided with the police vehicle.
on tuesday, FOX 13 in Seattle Santana had bloodshot eyes and admitted to police that he had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana before getting behind the wheel of his car, the report said, obtaining court documents.
Santana was booked into the Snohomish County Jail, where the Seattle Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed an immigration detainer on the Mexican national.
He first encountered Seattle ERO on October 28, 2013, at the South Correctional Facility in Burien, Washington, after being arrested for failing to appear in court for driving with a suspended license.
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He was also found guilty in May 2013 of possessing less than 40 grams of marijuana and sentenced to 90 days in prison (87 days of which were suspended).
On October 6, 2014, Santana was sentenced to 90 days in jail for driving with a suspended license, and was rearrested in May 2019 on a domestic violence assault charge.
Fox News Digital’s Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
