Semitruck driver in fatal U.S. 285 crash in Aspen Park did not have a valid driver’s license

The driver of a semitrailer arrested on June 11 in connection to a fatal six-vehicle crash on U.S. 285 did not have a valid driver’s license at the time of the crash, state patrol said.

Ignacio Cruz Mendoza, a 47-year-old from Mexico, had an active file in the Commercial Driver’s License Information System that state troopers used to identify him, but he did not have a valid U.S. or commercial driver’s license at the time of the crash, Colorado State Patrol spokesperson Patrick Rice said.

Rice said Mendoza didn’t have a valid driver’s license from Mexico either.

Despite that, the man was driving for Monique Trucking, an interstate shipping company based out of Indio, California, Rice said.

Monique Trucking is a general freight company, according to business safety records.

Mendoza is a Mexican citizen who is in the United States illegally and who was removed from or left the country voluntarily 16 times since 2002, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.

Mendoza was previously convicted in 2022 for speeding and operating without equipment required by law in Pennsylvania, according to his arrest affidavit.

When he was arrested, a U.S. driving record was created in CDLIS that shows his commercial license status as “eligible” out of Mexico, but he does not have an active commercial license in either the United States or Mexico, Rice said.

Drivers that don’t have U.S. citizenship can drive for companies in the United States with a commercial driver’s license from Mexico or Canada, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Mendoza was arrested on June 11 on suspicion of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, reckless driving and driving a commercial vehicle without a commercial license, according to the arrest affidavit.

On June 18, Mendoza was charged with one count of careless driving resulting in death and three counts of careless driving resulting in injury, according to court records.

His next hearing is set for July 31. Until then, Mendoza remains in Jefferson County Jail on a $50,000 bail.

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