Friday, September 29, 2006 — Time: 10:16:27 AM EST

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Mother seeks $100 million in son’s death

By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The mother of a man killed in a triple homicide last year plans to sue the federal government for $100 million, court documents state.

Sandra Miller of Altoona is the mother of Stephen Heiss, who died Aug. 28, 2005.

Miguel Padilla was convicted and received death sentences this month for killing Alfred Mignogna, owner of the United Veterans Association building; Fredrick Rickabaugh Sr., UVA doorman; and Heiss, a patron.

The jury wasn’t told that Padilla is an illegal alien.

The civil lawsuit notice, filed by attorney Art Cohen of Hollidaysburg, blames the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for allowing Padilla to remain in the United States.

Padilla, 27, came to America as a young boy with his mother and brothers to escape an alcoholic father.

He graduated from Penn Cambria High School but never became a U.S. citizen.

He was involved in a stabbing incident in which the victim was his then-father-in-law.

ICE never took Padilla into custody or attempted to deport him.

U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-9th District, spoke of the case on the House floor, saying ICE did nothing about Padilla.

Most of the money sought is for punitive damages because the government did not take any action that could have prevented the homicides.

An attorney with ICE declined comment Wednesday. ICE has asked Cohen to provide it with more details concerning the Padilla case.

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Four-vehicle accident claims young teacher
BY ERIC MULLENS
Car caught between two potato trucks
ALAMOSA — A young teacher in the gifted and talented program at Sangre de Cristo elementary school died when her car was crushed between two potato trucks Tuesday night on Alamosa County Lane 5.
Kelly Bergen, 25, of Monte Vista, Colo. was killed when her Ford Focus was hit from behind by a potato truck driven by Oscar Martinez-Cruz, 27, of Monte Vista and then pushed into another potato truck being towed by a tractor.
Martinez-Cruz was arrested and charged with careless driving causing death, driving a motor vehicle without a valid operator’s license and failure to present evidence of insurance. The operator of the second potato truck, Miguel Ramirez, 54, of Greeley, Colo. and the driver of the tractor, Bernardo Garcia, 55, of Hereford, Texas have not been charged in the accident.
Martinez-Cruz is currently being held at the Alamosa County Detention Center on charges related to the accident. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent-in-Charge Ed Tolbert of the Alamosa ICE office, confirmed Wednesday that Martinez-Cruz is an undocumented Mexican national working in the U.S. illegally and the agency has placed a detainer hold on him.
Colorado State Patrol Trooper Travis S. DePriest investigated the accident that happened around 7 p.m. Tuesday on County Lane 5 North, about one-tenth of a mile east of Alamosa County Road 102 South. According to the trooper’s report, all four vehicles were westbound on County Lane 5 North with Bergen’s Ford behind Ramirez’s potato truck that was being towed by the tractor driven by Garcia. As Bergen’s car approached the truck and tractor it was hit from behind by the truck driven by Martinez-Cruz and pushed 106 feet, rotating clockwise in front of Martinez-Cruz’s truck. Both the car and truck then slammed into the rear of the truck being towed and pushing it into the rear of the tractor. The tractor left the right side of the roadway and struck a power pole and came to rest in a field facing northwest. Bergen’s car came to rest in the westbound lane of County Lane 5 North, facing north and still attached to the front of potato truck driven by Martinez-Cruz.