Judge holds van driver on $500,000 bond

RALEIGH -- A Wake County district judge this afternoon nearly quadrupled the bond amount for a Francisco Javier Martinez, the Knightdale man police say drunkenly drove his van the wrong way on the Inner Beltline early Sunday, causing a crash that killed two brothers and a 14-year-old boy.

District Court Judge Jennifer Knox raised the bond on Martinez from $126,000 to $500,000 while a Wake prosecutor said more serious charges could be filed against the suspect.

In addition, prosecutors confirmed that federal immigration authorities have placed a detainer on Martinez, an indication that agents with the U.S. Immigrations Customs Enforcement (ICE) think Martinez is in this country illegally.

Martinez, 30, is a native of Mexico, according to records filed with the City-County Bureau of Identification.

Police reported Martinez's address as 1925 Village Squire Circle in Knightdale, but CCBI records show his address as 240 Russell Drive in Wendell.

Martinez was released Tuesday from WakeMed, where he has been recovering from his injuries. He was arrested and charged with driving while impaired, three counts of felony death by motor vehicle, two felony counts of serious injury by motor vehicle, and driving without a license.

Police say Martinez was the driver and lone occupant of a Chevrolet van headed in the wrong direction on the Interstate 440 Beltline between Wake Forest Road and Capital Boulevard early Sunday when it slammed into a Lexus.

Three of the Lexus sedan's occupants -- Guillermo Zintzun Jimenez, 26; Dagoberto Zintzun Jimenez, 21; and Santiago Pascual Tellez, 14 -- were killed. Two others were injured.