An American who fled Britain after a car crash left a mental health nurse seriously injured drove like an “arrogant young boy racer” the night of the collision, a judge told him.
Issac Calderon was sentenced to 32 months in jail after losing control of his Honda Accord following a high-speed overtaking manoeuvre and crashing head-on into a Mercedes being driven by Elizabeth Donowho in July 2023.
Calderon, who was 22 at the time, was arrested in Texas in 2024 and extradited.
He pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to causing serious injury by dangerous driving near Shucknall, Herefordshire.
Sentencing Claderon on Thursday, Judge Martin Jackson said: “Seven days before this accident you had bought a car and had not taken the trouble to make sure that it carried insurance.
“It was the sort of driving one expects from arrogant young boy racers. This was an appalling piece of driving.”
Texas-born Calderon appeared in Worcester Crown Court from HMP Hewell.
Jennifer Winzor, for Crown Prosecution Service West Midlands, said: “We worked closely with the US authorities to make sure our extradition request progressed swiftly so that Calderon was brought back to the UK to face the consequences of his actions.
“Those who commit offences in the UK cannot simply expect to walk away without accountability.
“I hope that these convictions and the sentence today provides some level of closure for all affected by this case.”
The judge was told Calderon worked for an American company in Peterborough as an interpreter, and told police after his arrest that he “played follow the leader” when he was driving.
Calderon’s lawyer told the court that he was not in the UK “as an American army official of any sort” and was driving along the A4103 between Worcester and Hereford to meet a friend he had met through online gaming.
He had failed to appear before Kidderminster magistrates’ court in November 2023 and a warrant for his arrest was issued in December but he had already flown back to Texas.
Court documents filed in Texas earlier in 2024 showed Calderon admitted during a police interview that he was unfamiliar with using a manual gearbox, did not understand British road signs and his driving was “definitely not safe”.
He later asked police to tell the nurse he was “really sorry” and also admitted to vaping in the car before the collision.
The judge, who also handed Calderon a two-year driving ban to be served after his release, told him: “You had held a driving licence for no more than a year.
“You were therefore on any view an inexperienced driver. You had not actually taken the trouble to familiarise yourself with solid white lines and what they mean, what they are there for.
“Although you say you were doing ‘follow the leader’ the responsibility for this accident rests solely with you.
“It was your hands on the steering wheel. It was your foot on the accelerator and it was your mind deciding to make those dangerous manoeuvres.
“It is troubling that instead of attending at that first [magistrates’ court] date you chose to to return to America rather than face the music.
“Other people were clearly aware of the road conditions and driving safely. You chose to do the opposite.”
Ms Donowho, 56, who was on her way home from working at a hospital unit in Hereford, suffered multiple fractures in the collision including to both ankles, her sternum and her right hand.
Calderon suffered a broken arm and concussion while the nurse has yet to return to work.
The crash, which happened on a wet road surface in a 50mph zone, was recorded on front and rear cameras mounted to a van.
One witness estimated Calderon’s speed as being around 70mph and had feared he was “going to kill himself or someone else”, prosecutor Simon Phillips told the court.
