Fond du Lac County prosecutors charged Elmer Jose Cardona Bustillo with knowingly operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and causing great bodily harm after a vehicle struck a 50-year-old woman with Down syndrome in a crosswalk.
The crash occurred Wednesday at the crosswalk connecting North Macy and West Johnson streets in Fond du Lac. Police say Cardona Bustillo was driving a pickup when he hit the woman. She was flown by helicopter to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee and is fighting for her life, according to Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney.
Toney said Cardona Bustillo is in the country illegally and was ordered removed by an immigration judge in November 2015. “The defendant should never have been operating a vehicle, and the defendant should never have been in the country after being ordered to be removed from the country by an immigration judge in November of 2015,” Toney said in a statement.
Cardona Bustillo made his initial appearance Wednesday. Cash bail was set at $25,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 23. An ICE detainer is anticipated. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The City of Fond du Lac Police Department investigated the case, and Deputy District Attorney Kurt Klomberg is prosecuting.
The charge comes as Wisconsin voters weigh the records of candidates who have opposed cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Milwaukee County Executive and Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Crowley has said he sees no scenario in which his county would partner with ICE and has described himself as an “accomplice” to illegal immigrants. “I’m not an ally. I’m an accomplice. I’m going to be with you no matter what,” Crowley told supporters when asked how he would respond to ICE.
Heartland Post previously reported that Crowley directed Milwaukee County lobbyists to support legislation creating taxpayer-funded legal aid for people regardless of immigration status, along with other measures that would expand benefits for those in the country illegally. He has also compared the enforcement of immigration law to the Fugitive Slave Act.
The Fond du Lac case is the latest in a series of incidents in which individuals ordered removed from the United States remain in Wisconsin and face new criminal charges. Crowley’s campaign continues to emphasize opposition to ICE partnerships and support for driver’s licenses and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.
