Burning Atlanta

Francis Hernandez, 23, a native of Guatemala, is charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of leaving the scene of an accident.

He crashed his Chevy Suburban into a Mazda pickup that was making a turn. Two women in the truck were killed, and their truck slammed into a Baskin-Robbins ice crime store, killing a 3-year-old boy.

The claim filed on behalf of Rains states that Hernandez had been arrested at least 16 times in the three to four years before the Sept. 4 collision, and that many of those arrests occurred in Denver.

"However, despite these numerous arrests and the readily ascertainable illegal immigrant status of Mr. Hernandez, at no time were proper procedures relating to the reporting, detention and handling of illegal immigrants followed by the law enforcement agencies of the city of Denver," the claim states.

The claim, which was filed in November, is a precursor to a lawsuit.

Stuart Morse, the lawyer who filed the claim, said he is considering filing similar claims against other jurisdictions where Hernandez had been arrested in the past. What about the parents of the child that died?