ICE files detainer on man accused in Portage fatal truck crash

An Illinois man, who was driving his semi-trailer without a proper license when he was involved in an Oct. 15 fatal crash in Portage, now faces an immigration detainer filed against him by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Borko Stankovic, 41, of Lyons, is charged with Level 5 felonies for reckless homicide and criminal recklessness. Stankovic is accused of causing the crash on U.S. 20 at Douglas Drive when he made a hard left evasive maneuver, crossed the center line and struck head-on a Subaru, driven by Jeff Eberly, 54, of Mishawaka, who died at the scene, court records show.

While being held in the Porter County Jail, ICE recently filed the detainer charges against Stankovic. He is from Serbia and Montenegro and has been here illegally since February 2011, when his non-immigrant visa status expired, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Stankovic’s arrest follows a pattern of undocumented immigrants driving commercial vehicles on American roads, directly threatening public safety, Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said in a release.

Portage Police found that Stankovic only had an Illinois driver’s license and lacked the required commercial driver’s license.

“This senseless tragedy should never have happened, and this man (Eberly) should still be alive today. Stankovic has been in this country illegally since 2011,” McLaughlin said in the release. “Illegal aliens have no business operating 18-wheelers or semi-trucks on America’s highways.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Stankovic was the registered agent for two companies that in 2020 obtained federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling $36,082, public records show. Both loans — designed to help businesses during the pandemic — were forgiven in 2021, a ProPublica database of federal PPP loans shows.

ESD Team Inc., which has a home address in Lyons, obtained a $20,457 loan on May 14, 2020, the ProPublica database shows. Stankovic was the registered agent for the company when it was established in 2012, Illinois Secretary of State records show.

Stankovic was the registered agent for Eclipse Trucking Inc. of Merrillville when it was founded in 2018, Indiana Secretary of State records show. Eclipse Trucking Inc. received a loan for $15,624 on June 8, 2020, the ProPublica database records show.

Eclipse Trucking Inc. became inactive as of March 5, 2025, Indiana Secretary of State records show.

Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.