Illegal Alien Drives Into Thin Blue Line Motorcycle Riders, 3 Dead, 9 Critical – Alcohol Suspected

This is horrible & it never should have happened. The person who drove into the law enforcement motorcyclists is in the country illegally and he had been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence once before this. One of the Angel Parents I work with on We Build the Wall’s projects, Mary Ann Mendoza, lost her son who was a police officer when an illegal alien was driving under the influence and crashed into his patrol car. It is heartbreaking to hear that more lives have been lost at the hands of someone who shouldn’t have been in the country in the first place. Prayers for the officers who have been hospitalized & the families of the deceased.

The Kerrville Daily Times is reporting:

“A 28-year-old man arrested Saturday on suspicion of causing a crash on Medina Highway that killed three motorcyclists has been accused of being in the United States illegally, and he has been arrested before on suspicion of DWI.

Ivan Robles Navejas is in the Kerr County jail this morning on bonds totaling $500,000, according to jail records. But even if he could make bail, Navejas wouldn’t be released without the approval of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, because an “immigration hold” has been placed on his file, according to records.

Navejas’ alleged country of origin was not immediately available.

The Texas Department of Public Safety accused Navejas of three counts of intoxication manslaughter and six counts of intoxication assault with serious bodily injury.

The crash happened about 12:10 p.m. July 18 just south of Kerrville on Texas 16 and involved six motorcycles and one passenger vehicle, said Trooper Orlando Moreno in a Saturday email.

Navejas is accused of killing three riders who were part of the Thin Blue Line, a motorcycle club for active and retired law enforcement officers, along with supporters. Members of the club were traveling to south on Texas 16 from a lunch visit to Kerrville about noon on Saturday, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The club was set to hold a meeting of its charitable foundation, which supports police officers across the country, later that afternoon.

In a social media post, David Weed of the Thin Blue Line said that the three who were killed were:

Joseph Paglia, president of the club’s Chicago chapter, retired officer with the Niles City Police Dept.
Jerry Wayne Harbour, Thin Blue Line Ambassador, a retired Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army and a retired pilot for Eastern Airlines.
Michael White, secretary of the Chicago chapter, Chicago Community Services Officer, U.S. Army(retired).

In a statement Weed said: “It is with great sadness we announce the deaths of three of our members this afternoon, Saturday, July 18, 2020. Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club was in Bandera, Texas for the weekend conducting our annual Thin Blue Line Foundation meeting, which was to have taken place Saturday afternoon. Several of our members had gone on a leisurely motorcycle ride to have lunch in Kerrville this morning before the meeting. They were heading back to Bandera when a car traveling from Medina toward Kerrville crossed over the center line and struck several of the motorcycles head on. Three of our members were killed in this tragic accident.”
“Please keep our brothers with the Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club in ya’ll’s prayers,” stated a social media post by the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office.

During Monday’s commissioners court meeting, Precinct 1 Commissioner Harley Belew offered prayers.

“It was really hard on our emergency responders, because they knew those folks,” Belew said. “When you arrive on scene of somebody you know, it’s tough on you, so our prayers for those families.”

Navejas was arrested on Nov. 5, 2016, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, and on Nov. 18, 2018, on a felony warrant out of Bexar County, according to jail records. Navejas had been charged in Bexar County with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

It’s not clear whether Navejas was ever prosecuted on a DWI charge following his 2016 arrest; a search in the county’s criminal court databased yield no results. The disposition of his Bexar County charge was not immediately available.”

Yahoo News reported the following:

“Three members of the Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club were killed Saturday during a suspected drunk driving crash in Texas.

The club was on a drive in Texas Hill Country, about 65 miles northwest from San Antonio, to celebrate the organization’s birthday when an allegedly intoxicated driver crossed lanes and crashed into the group, according to the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office. Another nine club members are in critical condition.”

RIP, officers.

Jeff Rainforth is the photographer & news editor for Airman Kolfage’s We Build the Wall, Inc.
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