HOUSTON (AP) — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer appeared to intentionally drive a vehicle into a man in Houston, breaking his leg, a Texas prosecutor said, warning an investigation by his office could result in criminal charges.
Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, needed surgery for a broken leg after he was hit by a car Saturday, said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL Houston, an immigrant rights organization that is helping the
man's family.
The encounter has set off new criticism over immigration enforcement in Houston, where local prosecutors are also investigating a July fatal shooting by a federal immigration officer.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, a Democrat, expressed concern Tuesday over surveillance footage that shows Parra Hernandez and another person jumping out of a white truck and running as a dark SUV pursues them. A vehicle strikes Parra Hernandez, who is seen on the ground seconds later.
“The most obvious criminal charge is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,” Teare told FOX 26 Houston. “Meaning the car was used as a deadly weapon. And it certainly is what appears to have happened, based on the surveillance footage.”
ICE said allegations that agents struck Parra Hernandez intentionally are “reckless” and “false.” ICE said in a statement that Parra Hernandez had been in a vehicle with the target of an enforcement operation, and when officers tried to stop the car, the two men fled on foot.
Parra Hernandez “ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck,” ICE said.
Surveillance footage shows a man running from the white truck as a black SUV approaches him from behind. The video does not show the car hitting the man — that view is blocked by another vehicle — but it shows the SUV inches from the man before stopping. After, the man is on the ground behind the car.
Espinosa said Parra Hernandez, who comes from Mexico and has been in the U.S. for 34 years, was on his way to work in construction when he was struck. Espinosa declined to share Parra Hernandez’s status.
He said two ICE officers were in the room when he visited Parra Hernandez at the hospital.
“He already had a surgery for the injury under his knee and now we’re waiting for swelling to go down in his ankle to be able to have a reconstructive surgery on his ankle,” Espinosa said.
As of Wednesday morning, he was still in ICE custody, Espinosa said.
Teare said ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have not cooperated with his office during its investigation.
In July, Teare said DHS also ignored his request for information after an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. The shooting was one of at least 10 deaths involving encounters with immigration officers since the start of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
___ Wilder reported from Austin, Texas. ___
Wilder is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
