Immigrant suspected in NFL player's death had been deported
By rick callahan, associated press
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INDIANAPOLIS — Feb 6, 2018, 7:06 PM ET
An immigrant who was living illegally in Indiana when he was arrested in a suspected drunken-driving crash that killed an NFL player had a history of misdemeanor convictions and arrests, including at least two previous instances of driving under the influence, authorities said Tuesday.
President Donald Trump drew added attention to Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson's death on Twitter, calling the highway collision that killed him and another man "disgraceful." The president also prodded Democrats to work with him on illegal immigration and border security.
The driver believed to be responsible for Sunday's crash on Interstate 70 in Indianapolis had been deported twice in the last decade.
Trump tweeted Tuesday: "So disgraceful that a person illegally in our country killed @Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson. This is just one of many such preventable tragedies. We must get the Dems to get tough on the Border, and with illegal immigration, FAST!"
In a second tweet, he added, "My prayers and best wishes are with the family of Edwin Jackson, a wonderful young man whose life was so senselessly taken. @Colts."
Jackson was 26. The collision also killed his Uber driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, who was not mentioned by the president. Police said both men were struck by a pickup truck driven by the suspect as they stood along I-70 after Jackson became ill.
Since the 2016 campaign, Trump has regularly pointed to crimes connected to illegal immigration as evidence that the U.S. needs to build a wall along the Mexican border and tighten immigration policies. As president, he has threatened to withhold federal funding to cities with sanctuary city policies.
A spokesman for Jackson's family said they are devastated and planned no response to Trump's tweets about the crash and the suspect's immigration status.
"The family is in shock, as you can imagine. This obviously happened so unexpectedly," Atlanta attorney Daniel Meachum said.
The man suspected of causing the collision, 37-year-old Manuel Orrego-Savala, had a 2005 conviction for driving under the influence in Redwood City, California. He also has numerous other misdemeanor convictions and arrests in California and Indiana, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nicole Alberico.
In the 2005 case, he pleaded no contest to two separate drunken driving offenses and was given a brief jail sentence, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Tuesday.
Orrego-Savala remained jailed in Indianapolis but had not been formally charged in the crash. He appeared Tuesday before a judge who advised him of his rights. Indianapolis television station WRTV reported that Orrego-Savala told the judge through an interpreter: "I wasn't driving the car. I don't know why I am here."
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/trump-crash-killed-nfl-player-disgraceful-52875464I saw this on the news this morning. Edwin Jacksons friend was on the television saying that he would not have wanted to politicize this. If it hadn't been Edwin Jackson it would have been someone else. This is outrageous. He has prior convictions and run ins with the law. He has been deported two times. He was walking away from the scene of the accident not caring that he had just killed two people. I don't care what his friend thinks or what the football player would have thought about the driver who killed him. Fact is he is dead because the law couldn't or didn't do anything to stop this two time deported, twice convicted of drunk driving illegal immigrant.
