A Texas grand jury has indicted a federal immigration enforcement agent on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following an October incident in which he struck an immigrant with his vehicle in Houston.
Mario Alberto Morales, 33, was indicted by a Harris County grand jury, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney Sean Teare and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office scheduled a news conference to discuss the case.
The Oct. 10 collision left 48-year-old Miguel Parra Hernandez with severe injuries, including a broken leg, as well as hip and ankle trauma, according to his family and representatives. Parra has lived in the United States for 34 years after arriving at age 14 and has no criminal record, according to his attorney, Kim Bruno. At the time of the incident, he was working on a stucco project, an advocate reported. The Department of Homeland Security stated that Parra was in the country without legal permission.
In the immediate aftermath of the collision, Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a statement asserting that Parra “ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck” by the SUV. The agency previously dismissed accusations that its agent intentionally hit Parra as “reckless” and “false.”
However, after reviewing surveillance video collected by investigators from local businesses and bystanders, Teare accused the agent of deliberately running over Parra. Security footage obtained by a local television affiliate shows a white truck facing opposite traffic on a busy roadway, from which Parra and another man exit and begin running. Simultaneously, an unmarked vehicle is seen jumping a yellow median, heading in Parra’s direction, and swerving left toward his path in front of a parked truck in a shopping center. Subsequent frames show a man lying on the pavement behind the enforcement vehicle.
DHS placed an officer on administrative leave following the collision, a senior department official confirmed. Officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the grand jury’s indictment.
According to ICE, the agents were conducting a targeted enforcement operation to arrest Jose Mendoza-Cervantes and were not targeting Parra or another individual who fled on foot alongside Mendoza-Cervantes. Yet, a daughter of Mendoza-Cervantes told the Houston immigrant rights group FIEL and Parra’s attorney that her father had died in 2017.
