Illegal immigrant with criminal past charged with vehicular homicide of Washington State police officer

An illegal immigrant who entered the US as a “got-away” has been charged for allegedly slamming his vehicle into a Washington State Patrol trooper and killing him. 

On Friday, Raul Benitez Santana (32), a Mexican foreign national with a criminal record who was in the country illegally, was charged by the Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. 

On March 2, Trooper Christopher M. Gadd, 27, was on patrol for speeders and DUI drivers on Interstate 5 near Marysville, WA when he was struck and killed in a three-vehicle crash at approximately 3 am in an impact so severe that Santana’s black SUV ricocheted into a white van in the fast lane after bouncing off the trooper’s vehicle. 

According to investigators, Santana was driving south on I-5 at over 110 miles an hour when his SUV veered onto the shoulder, slamming into the trooper’s parked patrol vehicle. 

In court documents, law enforcement stated that Santana admitted to smoking marijuana and drinking two beers earlier in the evening and that 3 hours after the collision, he still had a significant blood alcohol level.

Santana is being held on $1 million bail.

The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI previously exclusively revealed that Santana was an illegal immigrant with an extensive criminal record.

An ICE Spokesperson told Hoffman, “ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations) Seattle placed an immigration detainer with the Snohomish County Jail, WA, March 4, for Raul Benitez Santana, 33, a citizen of Mexico who is currently being held on charges related to vehicular homicide.” 

The spokesperson added that Santana is “unlawfully present in the US” and entered the country “at an unknown date and time, without admission or parole by an immigration officer.” 

He was “first encountered by ERO Seattle on Oct. 28, 2013, at the South Correctional Entity, Burien, WA, following his arrest for failure to appear for driving while license suspended.”

Santana has multiple previous convictions for driving while his license was suspended or revoked, possession, and domestic violence assault. 

Despite being an illegal immigrant, Snohomish County court documents claimed Santana was a US citizen. 

In 2017, ICE listed Snohomish on the list of "Highest Volume of Detainers Issued to Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions," counties that "have a policy of non-cooperation." 

Washinton’s Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed the “Keep Washington Working Act” in 2019 making Washington a "sanctuary state," and restricting “the extent to which local law enforcement agencies (LEAs) may participate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.” 

Under the bill, state and local authorities aren't able to question people about their immigration status except in limited cases. Additionally, local jails and state prisons and not required to comply with voluntary federal “immigration holds” or notify federal authorities when they are scheduled to release an illegal immigrant from custody. 

Inslee signed the bill days before Santana’s domestic violence conviction.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, now a candidate for governor, published model policies, guidance, and training recommendations based on these new limits in 2020. 

In 2017, Inslee signed an executive order with similar provisions. 

Gadd is survived by a wife, a 2-year-old daughter, a father who is also a Washington State trooper, and a sister who is a trooper in Texas.