KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, LouisianaA surprising twist during a hit and run investigation

A surprising twist during a hit and run investigation

By Britney Glaser - bio | email

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - The search for a man wanted in a fatal hit-and-run accident that killed a Texas postal worker lands 29 alleged illegal workers in hot water with U.S. Border Patrol agents in Lake Charles.

The suspect is 25-year-old Daniel Gonzalez Rodriguez. U.S. Postal inspectors say on June 22, 2008 Gonzalez Rodriguez ran a red light in Corsicana, Texas, hitting a mail carrier's truck and then fled the scene. The postal worker died and Gonzalez Rodriguez has been on the run for the past six months.

Federal agents had reason to believe he was working a construction job in Lake Charles, but when officials arrived at the scene, this story took a surprising twist.

It was around 9:00 Wednesday morning that the search for a Gonzalez Rodriguez brought state police to the construction site at Resthaven Nursing Center on Sale Lane.  Sgt. Stephen Lafargue with Louisiana State Police Troop D says, "We were contacted by the Texas Rangers in reference to a felony hit and run that had taken place where a U.S. Postal worker was killed and they thought that they had a suspect in this area that was working construction."

When state police began questioning the workers about the whereabouts of Gonzalez Rodriguez, authorities discovered that 29 of the men had no documentation.  "The Border Patrol was called in," says Sgt. Lafargue, "they have taken the 29 in custody, they will be processed and then agents will go about identifying them through fingerprints or any type of identification."

Corsicana police confirm that none of the men in custody are in act Gonzalez Rodriguez. The alleged illegals are in custody at the U.S. Border Patrol office in Lake Charles.

Resthaven Administrator sSereitha McGee says she had no idea that 29 alleged illegals were working on this construction site.  "We don't actually do the hiring," says McGee, "the contractor hires the sub-contractor. Even the contractor is a good company...and from what I was told by the state troopers is that they're not really sure that they're illegal, but they did take them down to have them all checked out."

*Louisiana State Police will continue to work with the Texas Rangers and U.S. Border Patrol in this investigation.