MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has filed a detainer request with Maryland officials for a Germantown man accused in a deadly wrong-way crash, officials said Friday.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a release that the ICE detainer was lodged Tuesday, days after Maryland State Police announced charges over the fatal Aug. 30 crash.
Jose Antonio Caballero Nolasco, 31, is facing two counts of gross negligent manslaughter, two counts of homicide by motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol, and one count of life-threatening injury by motor vehicle.
Related: MD Man Facing Charges After Wrong-Way Crash Kills VA Mother, Daughter
DHS said Nolasco is a native of El Salvador who illegally entered the U.S. The agency did not provide any additional specifics.
Immigration detainers issued to federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies — including jails and prisons — are used so ICE can be notified when a wanted individual is being released from custody. Alternatively, detainers can be used to implement a 48-hour hold, so transfer arrangements can be made.
Detainers, however, are not judicial warrants and, as such, do not legally require officials to hold Nolasco past the time he is court-ordered to remain in custody.
State Police said Nolasco remains held at the Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville.
MSP said Nolasco crashed his Ford Mustang into a Toyota Camry on Aug. 30 while driving northbound on the southbound Interstate 270 lanes.
The Toyota was hit head-on, fatally injuring Musammat Shamima Begum, 46, and Areebah Jahin, 23, of Burke and Alexandria, Virginia.
The mother and daughter were pronounced dead at the scene. Two additional passengers in the Toyota — the 64-year-old driver and an 8-year-old passenger — were hospitalized.
Nolasco was the sole occupant of the Ford and was transferred to the Rockville detention center after being treated for injuries at a local hospital.
Early on in the investigation, State Police said impairment was likely a contributing factor in the crash. NBC Washington reported that investigators found open beer cans inside the Ford and that Nolasco had bloodshot eyes and was slurring his words when talking with authorities.
An investigation into the crash remains ongoing.
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