UPDATE: Illegal aliens who fled Saturday traffic stop now also in custody

Saturday, February 11, 2017

CLOVERDALE -- Eight illegal aliens are now in custody following a Saturday-morning traffic stop by an Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement trooper.

Six individuals were taken into custody at the time of the stop, while two others fled the scene and remained at large until they were arrested by Indiana State Police Sunday afternoon.

Indiana State Police reported that at 10 a.m. they received a tip that the two males could possibly be found at a local restaurant on Main Street in Cloverdale.

Troopers went to the establishment, located the males and took them into custody without incident.

At 8:56 a.m. Saturday, the trooper stopped a blue Toyota Sequoia with Texas registration for an unsafe lane movement violation near the 43-mile marker on eastbound Interstate 70, two miles east of Cloverdale.

During subsequent conversation with the driver, the trooper noticed indicators of possible criminal activity, Indiana State Police at Putnamville reported.

Further investigation revealed the eight passengers were illegal aliens with no identification, including a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy -- both reportedly without parents.

All the individuals involved are believed to be from the countries of Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

The driver was believed to be en route from Houston, Texas, to Baltimore, Md., authorities said.

Six of the illegals were detained without incident, but two fled south from the I-70 traffic stop scene on foot into a field near the County Road 475 East overpass.

The investigation was conducted by the federal agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the first six individuals detained are in federal custody in Indianapolis.

ISP made no arrests on the initial incident, but the two men captured Sunday were arrested and booked in the Putnam County Jail. They will remain until agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency pick them up on Tuesday.

No criminal charges will be filed.

Assisting were the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department and the Cloverdale Police Department.

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  • "You who are so-called illegal aliens must know that no human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal?"

    Elie Wiesel

    -- Posted by Rockypenguin on Sun, Feb 12, 2017, at 11:25 PM
  • This is the second time people were attempting to "smuggle" "illegals" through the state and were caught. Is this another "human trafficking" situation??

    -- Posted by Hazel on Mon, Feb 13, 2017, at 11:38 AM
  • I can't believe we are housing them in the county jail. The should have just taken them to the houses in Greencastle with the "Refugees Welcome" signs and made these people put them up in their homes.

    -- Posted by CdaleResident on Mon, Feb 13, 2017, at 3:57 PM
  • If you seriously wonder as to why someone can be classified as "illegal" then you have no understanding of basic immigration laws. If you cross a foreign border, without proper visas, you are therefore not there legally, hence "illegal"

    -- Posted by jasuter on Tue, Feb 14, 2017, at 10:56 AM
  • Elie, since you have some confusion on this matter, here is the USCIS documentation for your reading pleasure to clarify.

    https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/8cfr.html

    -- Posted by jasuter on Tue, Feb 14, 2017, at 11:04 AM
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