A US soldier who fled Britain after running over a nurse is due to appear in court today after being arrested in Texas.
Isaac Calderon, 22, left Elizabeth Donowho, 56, with multiple fractures following the crash in Herefordshire in July last year.
Calderon was due to appear at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on December 1 to face charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Police labelled him a possible “flight risk” but he was still able to leave the UK on a flight to Texas on November 25.
He is understood to have been arrested at his home in Texas yesterday and is scheduled to appear in court in Houston later today.
Police labelled Isaac Calderon (pictured) a possible “flight risk” but he was still able to leave the UK on a flight to Texas on 25 November.
Elizabeth Donowho (pictured) suffered multiple fractures following the accident in Herefordshire in July last year.
Radd Seiger, Ms Donowho’s adviser and spokesman, said: ‘It’s been almost a year since Elizabeth suffered the accident that nearly cost her life.
“We do not know why the extradition process has taken so long, but we are delighted to see that it is now underway and we hope that Mr Calderon will soon return to the UK so that he can face our judicial system. He is of course innocent of the charges against him until proven guilty.”
Calderon is believed to have been visiting an SAS base in Herefordshire at the time of the crash. His occupation was given in court as “US soldier”.
West Mercia Police are said to have told Ms Donowho he was “associated with the Secret Service”.
In December, Calderon’s own uncle told the Daily Mail that he should return to face justice.
He said Calderon may have been “scared” but urged him to return to Britain because “there is no honour in running”.
He is accused of colliding with Ms Donowho, 56, on the A4103 near Shucknall on July 31. Ms Donowho, from Malvern, Worcestershire, was unable to walk for six weeks after suffering a fractured sternum and two broken ankles.
Calderon was due to appear at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on December 1 but instead boarded a commercial flight to Houston, where he lives in the suburb of Humble.
Speaking at his nearby home last year, his uncle Jonathan Calderon, 59, said his nephew “should have stayed” and that his actions went against everything his father Manuel, a former Marine, taught him.
He said: “I think he got scared and left thinking everything would be fine. If he doesn’t go back to England, he will ruin his military career. There is no honour in running.”
He added: “Isaac has always been an exceptional boy and joined the National Guard right out of high school. His parents raised him to be respectful.
“If he did something wrong, his father would make him do exercises like sit-ups and push-ups, typical military stuff. It wasn’t too late for him to say he was scared and go back to England.”
He said he thought his nephew was working as a translator in the UK.
Mrs Donowho, from Malvern, Worcestershire, was unable to walk for six weeks after the accident due to her injuries (pictured)
The victim suffered a fractured sternum and two broken ankles (pictured)
Calderon’s grandfather emigrated from Mexico and fought in World War II and Korea and was awarded the Purple Heart, one of the highest military honors.
The case has drawn comparisons to that of Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US spy who killed motorcyclist Harry Dunn, 19, in a head-on collision in the UK in August 2019 before fleeing to the US.
He eventually admitted to death by reckless driving and received a suspended sentence, but appeared in court remotely from the US.