Illegal immigrant, five times deported, charged in fatal LA crash

March 7, 2017

Sandra Duran

A 45-year-old Mexican national who has a long criminal history and has been deported from the United States five times is sitting in Los Angeles County Jail on murder and DUI manslaughter charges. [LA Daily News]

Estuardo Alvarado, 45, allegedly struck and killed Arleta woman Sandra Duran, 42, while fleeing the scene after hitting a parked car. Duran’s son, Christian Galban, 18, and his girlfriend Stephanie Garcia, 18 were in the car at the time of the crash. Both Galban and Garcia suffered injuries but survived.

The crash occurred on Feb. 19 on Sepulveda Boulevard in North Hills. Alvarado allegedly tried to pass some vehicles and struck a parked car. Then, after stopping briefly, he fled at high speeds, ran a red light and T-boned into the driver’s side of Duran’s Toyota Camry.

Alvarado, who was living illegally in Lakeview Terrace, was deported five times between 1998 and 2011. He has been charged with more than 20 felonies and misdemeanors since 1990, court records show.

The charges include being a felon in possession of a weapon, possession of marijuana for sale, the sale or transport of a controlled substance and driving under the influence. Alvarado has been convicted of several charges, including DUI, possession of marijuana for sale and misdemeanor hit-and-run. Several cases against him were dismissed or not prosecuted or the conclusions are unclear.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say Alvardo has been on their radar for years.

Duran’s sister Lisa Morales, 36, is an LAPD officer who works in the division where the fatal accident occurred. Morales was on maternity leave at the time her sister was killed.

Morales said when she showed up at the scene of the crash her partners knew that it was her sister, and it was very traumatic.

“It’s a great concern because this could have been prevented,” Morales said. “It’s sad and it’s unfortunate. It’s going to happen not just to my family but to other families.”

The fatal Los Angeles crash occurred just days before President Donald Trump announced plans to create an office within the Department of Homeland Security called Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE). Trump said during a speech to Congress last week that the office would give a voice to “those who have been ignored by our media and silenced by special interests.”

Alvarado is currently charged with five felonies, including murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. He is being held at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail on $2.23 million bail.


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ALERT! The state legislators are moving the Sanctuary state bill on fast track


SB 54 (De Leon, D), or “The California Values Act”, would effectively make California a “Sanctuary State” by prohibiting our local and state law enforcement from working with federal agencies in immigration enforcement.


This bill, as well as SB 6 (Hueso, D) and SB 29 (Lara,D), have been put on the legislative fast track and are already scheduled to be heard in Senate Appropriations Committee on March 13th. SB 6 (Hueso, D) sets up a state-managed fund to provide legal services for illegal immigrants’ legal proceedings and SB 29 (Lara, D) prohibits our local and state law enforcement agencies from contracting with a private agency for the purposes of detaining illegal immigrants.


These bills make our state even less safe than it already is, thanks to failed policy on behalf of Governor Brown and his Democrat super-majority legislature.


What’s worse, SB 54 might have unintended consequences that make it more difficult for local, state, and federal law enforcement to work together on other issues, like organized crime.


Please call the Senators on the Appropriations Committee and let them know we OPPOSE SB 54, SB 6, and SB 29!!


Senate Appropriations Committee

Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Chair): (916) 651-4033

Senator Pat Bates (R-Vice Chair): (916) 651-4036

Senator Jim Beall (D): (916) 651-4015

Senator Steven Bradford (D): (916) 651-4035

Senator Jerry Hill (D): (916) 651-4013

Senator Jim Nielsen (R): (916) 651-4004

Senator Scott Wiener (D): (916) 651-4011


Death penalty anyone?


You need to complete the story of 2700 killed in respect to where and who has done the killing. Taking guns away from law abiding citizens won’t help as building a wall or saying all illegals are bad.will solve the immigration problem. There was a show on TV where they caught a illegal from India and they said they paid $30,000 to get smuggled into US. Others that come here have also paid large sums of money to get here. Where do they get this kind of money as I couldn’t afford it. We need to make it possible for people to come here legally and pay for everything like the citizens do and for those illegals that commit crimes they should be sent back to the country they came from and put in prison and make that country pay for it not us. If we go to other countries illegally we are put in jail and forgot about and no one gives us free services so why does everyone condemn the US for trying to protect ourselves. We are the most considerate country for immigrants and all we want is for them to abide by our laws and follow the proper procedure to become a citizen of this country.


I disagree..we should not have pay Mexico ANYTHING. He should be tried for first degree murder and sentenced to death when found guilty.


We should pay Mexico to house him instead of rewarding him with a jail in the USA. I never could understand why we jail foreign nationals here? My only guess is that the taxpayers would rather fund prisons instead of public health and safety.


This bag of waste was deported several times, so was the one in San Francisco and I’m sure many others and they come back,I’m all for getting these people out of here but how do we keep them from getting back into this country, I guess we could implant a chip in them. Or do the survivors sue the Govt, because they allowed this to happen,that doesn’t bring back a loved one,what do we do. One of our problems is Keven De long a democrat senator in L A he wants this to be a santcuary state,claiming half of his family is here illegally with illegal license and cards, WE THE PEOPLE don’t stand a chance.


We can’t possibly expect others to respect our laws when even we don’t respect them enough to enforce them.


We could erect a barrier between our two nations…that might work.


*Kevin De Leon