Suspect that killed former Cardinals linebacker Edwin Jackson detained twice in Arizona
Daniel Gonzalez
A Guatemalan man suspected of driving while intoxicated and fatally striking two people, including Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson, a former Arizona Cardinals player, was in the U.S. illegally, federal immigration authorities have confirmed.
Manuel Orrego-Savala, 37, had been deported twice, authorities said in a statement on Monday. On both occasions he was detained in Arizona before being returned to his native Guatemala.
The first time was in January 2007, after previously being convicted of driving under the influence in 2005 in Redwood City, Calif, according to ICE spokeswoman Nicole Alberico.
Orrego-Savala, also known as Alex Cabrera-Gonsales, was deported a second time in May 2009, Alberico said in a written statement.
The Guatemalan man is accused of driving the Ford F-150 pickup that veered into the emergency lane on westbound I-70 in Indianapolis, striking Jackson and 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, Jackson's Uber driver, around 4 a.m. Sunday, according to the Indianapolis Star.
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Investigators believe Monroe pulled to the side of the road when Jackson became ill, and that Monroe got out of his car to assist Jackson when they were struck, the Star reported.
Police say Manuel Orrego-Savala, 37, had a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit when he hit and killed Jackson and Monroe, the Star reported.
Jackson was in the Arizona Cardinals' training camp in 2015 before joining the Colts later that year.
Orrego-Savala's immigration history in the U.S. dates back 14 years, according to Alberico.
He entered the U.S. illegally around July 1, 2004, Alberico said in the statement.
On Oct. 27, 2006, ICE deportation officers in San Francisco arrested him for being in the country illegally. After being issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge, Orrego-Savala was ordered deported on Dec. 20, 2006 after being held at an immigration detention facility in Eloy, she said.
He was deported to Guatemala the first time on Jan. 17, 2007, she said.
On March 26, 2009, ICE deportation officers in San Francisco arrested Orrego-Savala again and reinstated his prior deportation order. After being transferred from San Francisco to Arizona, ICE officers in Phoenix deported him to Guatemala again on May 12, 2009, she said.
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