A Texas grand jury has indicted United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Mario Alberto Morales for allegedly running over a Mexican construction worker during a Houston operation on October 10. The indictment charges Morales with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
According to Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, the victim, 48‑year‑old Miguel Parra‑Hernandez, had no criminal record and had lived in the county for more than three decades. Parra‑Hernandez was reportedly fleeing federal agents when an unmarked black Jeep Cherokee struck him in a parking lot near Clay Road and Highway 6. He sustained multiple fractures to his right leg and an ankle injury that required surgery.
Surveillance footage released by local authorities contradicts ICE’s claim that Parra‑Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle. The video shows the SUV crossing a median and pursuing the man as he runs, with the impact occurring moments later. Body‑camera footage also captured Morales acknowledging that he struck the victim with his vehicle.
Teare has accused federal officials of obstructing the investigation, citing the removal of the Jeep before local investigators could examine it and the denial of access to the vehicle as of October 23. The indictment follows a dispute over the operation’s intended target, as ICE said they were searching for a man named Jose Mendoza‑Cervantes, who the victim’s family says died in 2017.
The case comes amid ongoing investigations by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office into the fatal shooting of another Mexican, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, on July 7. An ICE officer, Gregory Feathers, is accused of firing at Salgado Araujo’s vehicle, a claim that the surviving passengers dispute.
Source: Al Jazeera
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Editorial note: This is an original news report prepared from the attributed source material with AI assistance. It is not a reproduction or translation of the original article.
