Houston
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of intentionally ramming his car into a Mexican construction worker in Houston was charged Friday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, prosecutors said.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office said Mario Alberto Morales was driving an unmarked black vehicle Oct. 10 when he struck Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, who was fleeing. Parra Hernandez was later taken into custody with a broken leg.
Few federal agents during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown have faced criminal charges for their actions on the ground, although some encounters have been investigated.
The case in Houston was brought by District Attorney Sean Teare, a Democrat, who is also investigating the fatal shooting of a Mexican homebuilder in July that sparked protests in the nation’s fourth-largest city.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the indictment charging Morales.
ICE said Parra Hernandez stood in front of the car and called accusations that the officer intentionally hit him false and “reckless.” Teare said the surveillance footage clearly contradicted ICE’s narrative.
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Surveillance and body camera footage shows an ICE officer hitting a man with an SUV in Houston. Credit: KHOU
In the video, a Jeep Cherokee crosses a central reservation and drives toward Parra Hernandez as he flees. The video doesn’t show the car hitting him — that view is blocked by another vehicle — but it does show the SUV inches away from him. The footage then shows Parra Hernandez on the ground.
Other aspects of the ICE narrative have also been called into question.
ICE released a photo of another man, José Mendoza-Cervantes, and said he was the target of the operation that day and was seen entering a vehicle with Parra Hernández. Parra Hernandez’s family members said they had never heard of him. FIEL, an immigrant rights group in Houston, said Mendoza-Cervantes’ daughter told them her father had been dead since 2017. She also said his real name was Jose Hector Jimenez.
Teare’s office also said its investigation did not reveal that Parra Hernández and the man identified by ICE as Mendoza-Cervantes were in a vehicle together, contrary to what ICE claims.
ICE has not responded to claims that the wanted suspect had been dead for nearly a decade.
Parra Hernández has lived in the country for more than 30 years. He was living in the United States without authorization, according to FIEL, which works with his family.
Teare said the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, failed to cooperate with its investigators and accused ICE of destroying evidence “either intentionally or through gross negligence.” He said the ICE officer who was driving the SUV that struck Parra Hernandez fled the scene before the vehicle could be impounded.
In July, Teare said DHS also ignored his requests for information after an ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in his van. DHS said Salgado Araujo “cocked his vehicle” before the shooting and that an officer fired in self-defense. Other passengers in the van disputed this version.
Teare did not give a timetable for when his office’s investigation into the shooting would be completed. In September, a witness to the shooting was seen entering an area of the courthouse reserved for grand jury proceedings.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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