ICE officer indicted after allegedly striking fleeing man with SUV in Houston
publishers 36articles 37first reported 30 Oct, 15:21 UTCdeveloping since 30 Oct · 3 editions
A Harris County grand jury has indicted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Mario Alberto Morales on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly struck a fleeing man with an SUV during an immigration operation in Houston.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare announced the indictment Friday. Morales is accused of striking Miguel Parra-Hernandez, 48, with an unmarked Jeep Cherokee on October 10 in a parking lot near Clay Road and Highway 6. Parra-Hernandez, a Mexican construction worker who has lived in Harris County for more than 30 years, suffered multiple fractures to his right leg and an ankle injury that required surgery. Teare said he had no criminal record.
ICE has said Parra-Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle and called allegations that Morales intentionally struck him “reckless and false.” Teare said surveillance footage contradicts that account, showing the SUV cross a median and pursue Parra-Hernandez as he ran. Another vehicle obscures the moment of impact, but Parra-Hernandez is visible on the ground shortly afterward. In body-camera footage released Friday, Morales can be heard acknowledging that he hit him.
Teare also accused federal authorities of failing to cooperate with the local investigation, including removing the Jeep before investigators could examine it. ICE said agents had been searching for another man believed to be traveling with Parra-Hernandez, but that man’s daughter told The New York Times her father died in 2017. Parra-Hernandez’s family said the two men did not know each other.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 1 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 18 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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- This version written
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WHAT THE EDITOR DID
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