2 children injured in Papago Road crash; 6-time deportee charged

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A July 4 collision on Papago Road that injured two children is being blamed on a driver who was in the country illegally.

A woman with two children was driving a 2002 Oldsmobile Bravado west on Papago near the intersection of Amarillo Valley Road around 2 p.m. Saturday when it collided with an eastbound 2003 Ford Explorer driven by Manuel Perez-Vasquez.

Perez-Vasquez reportedly fled the scene with at least one passenger from the Explorer but later returned.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Perez-Vasquez had been deported to Mexico six times since May 5, 2012.

A 5-year-old boy in the Oldsmobile received a significant laceration to the head, according to PCSO. He was transported to a hospital by air ambulance, and an injured 2-year-old girl was transported by ambulance.

Detectives from the PCSO Vehicular Crimes Unit determined Perez-Vasquez traveled left of center, causing the collision. Perez-Vasquez allegedly showed signs of drug impairment and was placed under arrest on suspicion of driving while impaired by drugs and leaving the scene of an injury collision, a felony. He allegedly confessed to smoking marijuana before the collision.

“He refused to give a blood sample when arrested because he knew he had drugs in his system,” Babeu said. “Detectives had to get a search warrant from a judge to obtain the blood sample.”