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Escondido Hit-and-Run Suspect Pleads Not Guilty as Bail Raised to $300,000

The case has escalated into a fight over California’s limits on honoring ICE detainers.

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A flower memorial for 11-year-old Adrian Torres, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver last month, is set up on East Washington Avenue in Escondido on Wednesday. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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Overview

  • Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz, 11, died on Thanksgiving after being struck the evening of Nov. 26 in Escondido, police said.
  • Hector Balderas-Aheelor, also identified as Hector Amador Balderas, was arrested Nov. 29 and charged with felony hit-and-run causing death.
  • Prosecutors said he turned himself in and argued he was a flight risk, leading a judge to increase bail from $100,000 to $300,000; he faces up to four years if convicted.
  • DHS and ICE said Balderas-Aheelor had been removed from the U.S. four times and that ICE lodged an immigration detainer after his arrest.
  • The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said it rejected the detainer under California Government Code 7282.5, prompting DHS criticism and a response from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office that federal authorities can still act; prosecutors said local records show no prior criminal convictions.