ICE Agent Indicted for Running Over Fleeing Man in Houston Parking Lot

A Harris County grand jury indicted ICE agent Mario Morales for aggravated assault after video showed him striking a pedestrian with his vehicle during an October chase.

Harris County Grand Jury Indicts ICE Agent Over Houston Vehicle Strike

A Harris County grand jury indicted a federal immigration agent on Friday after surveillance footage captured him running over a fleeing pedestrian during a vehicle pursuit in Houston on 10 October, sacurrent.com reports.

District Attorney Sean Teare announced that ICE agent Mario Alberto Morales faces a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon — identified as his own vehicle — after his office reviewed footage showing an unmarked patrol SUV striking Miguel Parra-Hernandez, 48.

"The evidence that we have in this case is as clear as any that I've prosecuted or investigated," Teare said at a news conference at the Harris County criminal courthouse.

Surveillance footage from a nearby business shows two men exiting a white pickup truck and running in different directions through a parking lot. A black SUV is then seen pursuing one of the men from behind before striking him. ICE body camera footage, shared by Teare's office, showed Morales stepping out of his vehicle after running over Parra-Hernandez's legs. Parra-Hernandez was on the ground, crying out in pain.

"What happened next shocked our entire community," Teare said.

ICE stated that agents had been searching for a man named Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, who held a deportation order, and believed he was travelling in the same truck as Parra-Hernandez. However, Mendoza-Cervantes's daughter later told the New York Times that her father died nearly a decade ago.

Teare said his office launched its criminal investigation after reviewing the footage. The case is ongoing and further developments are expected.

Source: Google News MT