Illegal immigrant accused of killing Washington state trooper was previously accused of domestic violence
The illegal migrant who crashed into a Washington State Patrol car and killed the officer inside was previously arrested on charges of domestic abuse, officials claim.
Raul Benitez Santana was arrested last Saturday after the fatal incident, which took the life of 27-year-old Trooper Christopher Gadd.
King County court documents obtained by the "Jason Rantz Show" on KTTH show that Santana was previously arrested for assaulting his girlfriend — identified by the initials "M.C." — who was also the mother of his then-five-month-old child.
MAN WHO CRASHED INTO WASHINGTON STATE PATROL TROOPER, KILLING HIM, IN US ILLEGALLY: ICE
Raul Benitez Santana is accused of killing a Washington State Patrol officer after crashing his car into a patrol vehicle. (FOX 13 Seattle)
M.C. reported to police that the confrontation began when she got into an argument with Santana over text messages he was receiving from another woman, according to the documents.
M.C. reported throwing Santana's phone, after which he began punching her repeatedly. She suffered significant damage to her face, including a broken nose and swollen left eye. A non-felony plea deal from Santana was accepted in May 2019.
Following the arrest, officers noticed irregularities in Santana's personal identification records.
WASHINGTON STATE TROOPER KILLED IN THREE-VEHICLE CRASH WHILE SEARCHING FOR DUI DRIVERS
King County became a sanctuary county in 2013, and Washington became a sanctuary state in 2019 to push back against effort by then-President Donald Trump to tighten restrictions on illegal immigrants in the U.S.
"The search incident to his arrest yielded multiple identification documents for him bearing a variety of names and other changed identifying information such as social security numbers," documents surrounding the case read.
Santana was arrested last week following the fatal car accident and is being held on $1 million bail after allegedly crashing his vehicle into a Washington State Patrol trooper and killing him.
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Washington State Patrol Trooper Christopher M. Gadd, 27, served the agency for two and a half years. He is survived by his wife and daughter, his parents, sister and other family members. (Washington State Patrol)
Gadd was watching for speeding and DUI drivers, when he was struck and killed in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 5 around 3 a.m. Saturday.
An investigation into the crash found an SUV being driven by 33-year-old Raul Benitez Santana was heading southbound on the interstate when the vehicle veered onto the shoulder and struck the trooper’s patrol car.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office reportedly found the SUV was traveling at a high rate of speed when it crashed into the police vehicle.
Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
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