In a recent blog I complained of Syracuse University's TRAC analysis "that all too often the most serious Level 1 offenders have only been convicted of traffic violations." Objecting to this depiction and the mindset behind it, I said, "First, we should not assume that traffic offenses are always 'minor'. Vehicular manslaughter, negligent homicide, and driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics all strike me as serious offenses."
Now comes a horrific example of exactly what I was talking about. In the wee hours of Sunday morning in New York City, a young couple, Nachman and Raizi Glauber, hailed a car service to take them to the hospital because Raizi, seven months pregnant, had been experiencing unusual pains. While en route, the vehicle they were riding in was smashed — "T-boned" — by a BMW traveling at a high rate of speed. Raizi was flung from the car. Her husband Nachman had to be cut out of it by emergency service workers. Both he and she, and the baby, which doctors tried to save by caesarian section, died at the hospital.
The driver of the BMW, identified by police as Julio Acevedo, fled the scene without making any effort to aid the victims and as of this writing is still at large. Police acknowledge that just two weeks ago, Acevedo was arrested for DWI, but had been released without even posting a bond. He is still at large, but has spoken to the media to tell his side of the story, which is that he was speeding to avoid being shot at, and regrets what happened, but is afraid to come forward due to all the attention.
According to media accounts, Acevedo was driving a car that had been illegally purchased for him by a woman, who has been arrested for insurance fraud, among other charges. This suggests that Acevedo might be an illegal alien without a driver's license. Internet searches have turned up cases of a man with the same name and a similar serious criminal record of manslaughter and drug charges who was previously deported.
Now I want to point out that, at least as far as I have been able to discern, no mention has been made of Acevedo's immigration or citizenship status in any of the media articles I've read. So he may or may not be an illegal alien and, while I await that piece of information with interest, really it's immaterial to my point, which is this: If one were to look just at the statistics, both the prior DWI and this dreadful hit-and-run case of vehicular homicide, would be lumped into "traffic offenses". Easy to mentally frame them as inconsequential when you don't know the facts behind the numbers, isn't it?
Sure, metrics are important. But it's also important to remember that there are real human beings with faces and lives, sometimes tragically ended like the Glaubers who were just starting out in life, by those who cause mayhem on our roads. Traffic crimes are not victimless offenses. And when the perpetrators are aliens, the price to be paid isn't just confined to the criminal justice system; our immigration laws also exact a price through expulsion from the country.
Does anyone — anyone — think of this preventable tragedy as "minor"? And if Acevedo does prove to be an alien, does anyone really think deporting him (after the criminal justice system is through with him) shouldn't fit into the apprehension priorities of federal immigration authorities?
