EXCLUSIVEAmerican 'spy', 23, who fled to the US from the UK after hitting a British nurse, 56, is a 'danger to the community', prosecutors say as they demand he be remanded in custody
- Isac Calderon, a US soldier, hit a pedestrian while driving in England last year
- UK cops warned he was a 'flight risk' before he caught a flight to Houston
Prosecutors have claimed that the American 'spy' who fled the UK to the US after hitting a British nurse is a 'danger to the community' and demanded he be remanded in custody.
In a filing to a court in Houston, Texas, Isac Calderon, 23, was branded a 'fugitive' who should not be released until his extradition case was concluded.
Prosecutors said that Calderon was a 'flight risk' and that he had already shown an 'intent to evade prosecution' by failing to appear at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on December 1st to answer charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Allowing him bail while the extradition case proceeds could 'embarrass the United States in the conduct of its foreign affairs' were he to abscond, it was claimed.
The allegations were made ahead of a detention hearing on Friday in Houston, the US equivalent of a bail hearing.
American citizen Isac Calderon fled to the United States after hitting Ms Donowho last year
Elizabeth Donowho walks at the side of the road close to where the crash took place last year
Isac Calderon is an American soldier thought to have been visiting an SAS base at the time
Calderon, a US soldier, is accused of crashing head-on into Elizabeth Donowho, 56, while on the wrong side of the road on the A4103 near Shucknall in Herefordshire on 31 July last year.
Ms Donowho, from Malvern, Worcestershire, was unable to walk for six weeks and suffered a fractured sternum and two broken ankles.
Calderon was thought to have been visiting an SAS base in Herefordshire at the time of the crash. In court, his occupation was given as 'American soldier'.
West Mercia police in England are said to have told Ms Donowho he was 'associated with the Secret Service'.
UK cops issued an arrest warrant for Calderon, who was labelled a potential 'flight risk' by police - before he left the UK on a flight to Houston on November 25.
The British authorities have since formally requested Calderon's extradition and he was arrested last week.
In a filing to the court in Houston, prosecutors described Calderon as a 'fugitive' from the law and said he should be remanded in custody until his extradition case was concluded.
They said that the 'serious nature of the dangerous driving offense' makes him a 'danger to the community both here in the United States and abroad if he were released'.
In the document, prosecutors argued Calderon was a 'flight risk given the strength of the case in the United Kingdom'.
Calderon has 'virtually no incentive to appear at his extradition hearing' and there is a 'significant' chance he will be extradited, the document said.
Assistant US Attorney Jay Hileman said: 'Moreover, Calderon has already demonstrated his intent to evade prosecution in this case.
'When he was interviewed by (West Mercia) police in the United Kingdom, PC Watkins informed Calderon that criminal charges were being pursued against him and asked him if he planned on remaining in the United Kingdom.
'Calderon stated that he had no plans to leave the country until March 2024. UK authorities subsequently sent a summons to Calderon's address in the United Kingdom, instructing him to appear in court on the charges on December 1, 2023.
'Despite his prior statements to PC Watkins, Calderon fled the United Kingdom on November 25, 2023, one week before his scheduled court appearance.
'Accordingly, allowance of bail in any amount would not guarantee Calderon's presence in court and would invite the possibility of embarrassing the United States in the conduct of its foreign affairs'.
Mr Hileman added: 'The Court should detain Calderon without bond because he is a danger to the community and a flight risk and because no special circumstances warrant his release'.
The complaint filed in court in Texas, claims that Calderon admitted to West Mercia police that his conduct was dangerous.
Ms Donowho was unable to walk for six weeks after the crash. She shattered her sternum and both ankles (pictured right: screws in one of her ankles)
The A4103 at Shucknall where nurse Elizabeth Donowho suffered serious injuries
According to the complaint, he told officers interviewing him that his driving was 'definitely not safe' and when shown a dash cam video of the incident filmed by another motorist, he said: 'S***'.
Witnesses said he was going 70 mph in a 50 mph zone and Calderon is said to have admitted he was vaping as he drove his Honda Accord, and said he didn't buy insurance and wasn't sure if it had an MOT.
He is said to have admitted to police that he had only bought the saloon car six days before the crash and that he had no previous experience of driving a car with a manual gearbox.
And while he said he had been driving on UK roads in rental cars for three months before the crash, he allegedly admitted he was 'not at all' familiar with road markings and traffic directions in the UK, saying: 'I get mixed up on the signs all the time.'
Calderon's court-appointed lawyer has yet to file a response to the prosecution's claims.
His family did not respond to calls and texts asking for comment.
