An Indiana man was killed after an illegal alien driving a semi-truck without a valid commercial license crossed into oncoming traffic and slammed into the victim’s car, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Federal officials say the suspect, Borko Stankovic, a native of Serbia and Montenegro, has been living in the U.S. illegally for more than a decade.
Stankovic’s semi-truck veered into the wrong lane on U.S. 20 in Portage, Indiana, hitting a Subaru Crosstrek driven by 54-year-old Jeffrey Eberly, who was killed instantly.
The DHS said Stankovic has been in the country illegally since 2011, when his nonimmigrant visa expired.
Despite a prior arrest in New York for resisting arrest and obstructing government administration, he was never deported.
“This senseless tragedy should NEVER have happened, and this man should still be alive today,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
“Stankovic has been in this country ILLEGALLY since 2011 and has a history of violating the law, yet he remained free to continue engaging in dangerous behavior that ultimately resulted in the death of Jeffrey Eberly.”
McLaughlin blasted sanctuary policies that prevented his earlier removal.
“Illegal aliens have no business operating 18-wheelers or semi-trucks on America’s highways,” she said.
“President [Donald] Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem are making America’s roads safe again.”
Local police say the deadly crash unfolded around 1:21 p.m. last Wednesday when Stankovic’s eastbound Freightliner semi approached a slowing van on U.S. 20 and suddenly swerved to avoid it.
Investigators say the semi made a hard left turn into the westbound lanes, striking Eberly’s Subaru head-on before jackknifing and hitting other vehicles.
The driver of the van and a passenger were treated and released at the scene.
Authorities later found that Stankovic was using a suspended commercial license belonging to a family member and that his company wasn’t even registered with the Department of Transportation.
He was charged with reckless homicide and criminal recklessness resulting in death and booked into the Porter County Jail, where ICE lodged an immigration detainer.
The Indiana crash follows a string of deadly incidents involving illegal aliens behind the wheel of commercial vehicles.
In August, the DHS said an illegal alien truck driver in Florida caused a horrific crash that killed three people on the Florida Turnpike.
The driver, Harjinder Singh, had entered the U.S. illegally in 2018 but still managed to obtain a California commercial driver’s license.
Investigators said Singh made an illegal U-turn in his semi-truck, triggering a multi-vehicle collision that left three dead.
The DHS blasted California’s licensing policies for allowing illegal immigrants to drive 18-wheelers, calling it another example of “deadly consequences when immigration laws are ignored.”
Just weeks later in California, Beto Cerillo-Bialva, an illegal alien who had been deported multiple times, was charged with six counts of murder after a drunk-driving crash in Napa County killed six farmworkers.
Federal officials said the tragedy could have been prevented if state sanctuary laws hadn’t shielded Cerillo-Bialva from deportation despite his prior arrests.
Both cases, DHS officials say, underscore a growing and dangerous trend: illegal aliens operating heavy commercial vehicles and killing Americans on U.S. roads.
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