Harris County DA charges ICE officer with aggravated assault after car strike
Prosecutors accuse the federal agent of intentionally ramming a fleeing construction worker, a move ICE calls a political stunt.
By Kaito Sokolov ·
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare charged a federal immigration officer with second-degree aggravated assault on Friday. The charge stems from an incident on Oct. 10 in which Mario Alberto Morales struck Miguel Parra Hernandez with an unmarked vehicle. Parra Hernandez, 48, is a Mexican construction worker who has lived in the United States for more than 30 years without authorization.
The collision left Parra Hernandez with a broken leg. He was placed in custody following the incident. Teare's office released surveillance and body camera footage to support the indictment. The video shows a black Jeep Cherokee crossing a median and accelerating toward Parra Hernandez as he ran. Morales' body camera captures him driving and making sharp turns. After the impact, Morales exits the vehicle and finds Parra Hernandez on the ground. Morales speaks to the injured man in Spanish, stating, "I was coming in and I hit him with the car."
ICE disputes the narrative that the strike was intentional. The agency labeled the indictment a political stunt and argued that local officials lack the authority to investigate federal officers acting on duty. In a statement, ICE called the allegations of an intentional strike reckless and false. The agency claimed Parra Hernandez stepped in front of the vehicle to avoid the officer.
Conflicting accounts surround the target of the operation that day. ICE identified Jose Mendoza-Cervantes as the individual being sought. The agency released a photo showing Mendoza-Cervantes entering a vehicle with Parra Hernandez. Teare's investigation found no evidence that the two men were together in a car. FIEL, a local immigrant rights group, stated that Mendoza-Cervantes' daughter told them her father, whose real name is Jose Hector Jimenez, has been dead since 2017. ICE has not responded to the claim that the suspect was deceased for nearly a decade.
The case adds to a series of investigations into federal immigration tactics in Houston. Teare, a Democrat, is also investigating the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in July. DHS has stated that Araujo weaponized his vehicle before an officer fired in self-defense. Teare has not set a timeline for the completion of that investigation. He noted that DHS has not cooperated with his team and accused ICE of destroying evidence related to the Parra Hernandez case.
FIEL executive director Cesar Espinosa said the group hopes the criminal charge will help secure Parra Hernandez's release from custody. Morales remains behind the wheel of the unmarked vehicle in the footage provided by the district attorney. Parra Hernandez continues to hold his leg in the video moments after the collision.
