A US soldier who fled the UK after a crash that left a nurse unable to walk has admitted vaping before the collision.
Isaac Calderon, 23, also said his driving was “definitely not safe” prior to the collision that left Elizabeth Donowho with fractures to both ankles, her sternum, and hand.
Court documents filed in Texas as part of an extradition request state that when West Mercia Police showed Mr Calderon dashcam footage of the incident he replied: “Shit.”
He later asked an officer to tell Ms Donowho that he was “really sorry” and that he had been “vaping in the car”.
Nurse Elizabeth Donowho. Pic: PA
Mystery surrounds exactly who Mr Calderon was working for after Ms Donowho was told by police that he’d been visiting the British special forces base (SAS) in Herefordshire when the crash happened nearby last summer.
The documents include a copy of Mr Calderon’s US “Uniformed Services” identification card, but he said that at the time of the crash he was travelling for “personal activities”.
It also stated that “multiple witnesses” saw him overtaking several vehicles at high speed before the collision on the A4103 at Shucknall in Herefordshire on 31 July last year.
He failed to appear before magistrates in Kidderminster last November accused of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and a warrant for his arrest was issued in December, but he had already flown back to the US.
Some of Mrs Donowho’s injuries after the crash
Tracked down to parents’ house in Texas
Sky News tracked him down at his parents’ house in Humble, Texas. His father, Manuel, insisted he had been in the UK on a work visa where he was employed at a warehouse, and that the situation had been “blown out of proportion”.
His son has been described as a “fugitive”, with the case likened to that of Anne Sacoolas, the US spy who left the UK after killing teenager Harry Dunn in a crash in Northamptonshire in 2019.
On a GoFundMe page to raise money for legal costs, he referred to his son working as a contractor in the UK “due to his security clearance with the Texas National Guard”. He said they had been “contacted by the FBI” who were “talking about extradition”.
Mr Calderon’s parents’ house in Humble, Texas
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Isaac Calderon was arrested last week in the US and, according to the court documents, he was “not at all” familiar with British road markings and traffic directions.
He did not know what solid white lines on a road marked no passing zone were and he was driving a manual vehicle that he had “no prior experience with”.
He is expected to appear again before a judge in Houston, Texas, on Friday.
Radd Seiger, who helped the family of Harry Dunn in their fight for justice, and is advising Elizabeth Donowho, said: “It is important to remember that Mr Calderon is innocent of any charge until proven otherwise and that he is entitled to a fair trial which he will absolutely get when he is returned to the UK.
“That said, it is almost a year since Elizabeth suffered life-changing injuries after this crash and she hopes that the issue of Mr Calderon’s extradition is resolved swiftly”.