SALISBURY, N.C. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer requesting that North Carolina authorities not release a man charged in a deadly hit-and-run crash that killed three people in Salisbury.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Javiel Pena Sola, who DHS identifies as a citizen of El Salvador living in the U.S. without legal status, is charged with three counts of felony hit-and-run involving serious injury or death following the July 18 crash in Rowan County.
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Salisbury police said officers found two people dead at the scene, while a third victim died later at a hospital. Investigators said the suspect fled the scene before being located by a K-9 unit. After receiving medical treatment, Sola was taken into custody.
DHS said ICE filed a detainer with the Rowan County Jail on July 22 requesting notification before Sola is released from local custody.
Federal officials also said Sola has prior convictions in Maryland for reckless endangerment, failure to stop after an accident involving damage to an attended vehicle, and driving without a license. DHS stated that ICE took him into custody in 2016 after a prior arrest before he was later released.
The criminal case against Sola remains pending. As with all criminal defendants, he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.