During the peak of the presidential election much local news was pushed to the back burner. Since then the Dow has continued to drop and the local news and responses to immigration have been muted a tad. However, there have been two major events that have lead to local out cry even while a nation in turmoil and fear grips the rest of the country. The Phoenix metro area has lost two lives to drunk driving by illegal immigrants.
The first death was of officer Shane Figueroa of the Phoenix police early in the morning on October 25th. The man that was found at fault for the accident first identified himself as Jose Rivas Gonzalez. The name he gave police was an alias used on forged identification. The 50 year old suspect's real name is Salvador Vivas-Diaz an illegal immigrant. Vivas- Diaz is facing charges of manslaughter, aggravated assault, obstruction of a criminal investigation, and forgery. Coverage on this case has not been as in depth as similar cases with the death of an officer have been in the past. This has upset many in the Phoenix area.
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/MoAlonzoDunsmoor/37336
Besides the newspaper outlets, local talk radio has picked up on the story. Below is a link to Ankarlo mornings on 92.3 KTAR. The broadcast from October 27th, 2008 is the first public mention I heard in regards the immigration status of Vivas-Diaz and one of the more information filled discussions on this case.
http://ktar.net/blogs/dankarlo/2008/10/page/2/
Not even a month after the death of 25 year old Phoenix officer Shane Figueroa, 16 year old Kelly Tracy was killed by an illegal drunk driver on her way to a parade in Gilbert. The local high school band member was in the car with her brother when 32 year old Manuel Contreras- Galdean hit the two teens while under the influence of alcohol. Contreras- Galdean has 2 prior DUI offences.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
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