A traffic stop at an elementary school in Washington County led to a foot chase and a federal immigration arrest.
On Tuesday, Greene Washington Regional police were patrolling the streets in an unmarked vehicle near Joe Walker Elementary School in South Franklin Township, when an officer saw a white Chevrolet drive through the school zone at just over 40 mph, according to a criminal complaint.
Greene Washington Regional Police Chief William Deforte told TribLive the officer turned on their sirens and pulled the van over roughly a mile down the road on Park Avenue around 8 a.m.
Greene Washington Regional Police Capt. Robert Gahagan, who stopped the van, said there were two males inside the vehicle, according to the complaint.
The driver was 35-year-old Erlin Leonel Antunez-Hernandez, whose full name was provided to TribLive by a community activist who knows the family.
Antunez-Hernandez later identified himself to police as Leonel Antunez or Erlin L. Antunez and spoke in broken English, the complaint said.
“He stated that he never had a driver’s license anywhere. He stated that he was from Guatemala, then Mexico, then Honduras,” Gahagan said.
The passenger did not speak English and did not have identification on him or immigration papers, the complaint said.
Gahagan said that if they were unable to produce some form of ID, they would be transported to a police station and fingerprinted.
“He is a ghost and that is the main concern about illegal (immigrants),” Deforte said, about people without identification.
Antunez-Hernandez said he would look for some form of ID and Gahagan returned to the patrol car to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the complaint said.
Deforte told TribLive that police discovered Antunez-Hernandez had an arrest warrant for DUI out of Georgia.
It was unclear on Thursday where the arrest warrant was filed in Georgia.
While Gahagan was at his police car prior to the arrest on Tuesday, a Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Unit was passing by and stopped to check out the scene, the complaint said.
“I looked back to check and the passenger bailed out and started to run through the field. The driver quickly bailed out and followed. The pair ran through the open field and crossed the creek,” the complaint said.
The officer secured the van and called for assistance.
Deforte said Antunez-Hernandez and the passenger ran in opposite directions, making it difficult to follow both of them.
State police, Trinity Area School District Police Department Washington Police Department and other law enforcement units arrived and searched the area on foot.
Antunez-Hernandez was found in a field adjacent to the Lone Pine Country Club golf course approximately 25 minutes later, Deforte said.
He is charged with flight to avoid apprehension and escape, both felonies. He is also charged with speeding in a school zone.
The passenger, whose identity is unknown, remained at large on Thursday morning, Deforte said.
“Their biggest mistake was running … they just added gasoline to the fire,” Deforte said about the chase.
As of Jan. 30, the Greene Washington Regional Police Department had an active 287(g) program agreement operating under the “Task Force Model,” which allows law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during routine police duties.
On Thursday, Deforte said that incidents such as this week are part of the reason the police department unanimously voted to sign onto the program.
“Now we found there is a larger group of these illegal immigrants living in Washington (County) area,” Deforte said.
Deforte said the department believes there are illegal immigrants working on construction sites and being paid under the table. He did not elaborate.
As of Tuesday, Antunez-Hernandez was unable to post bail and was being held at the Washington County Jail, according to court documents.
Antunez-Hernandez did not have an attorney listed on court documents as of Thursday afternoon.