HOUSTON – A Texas district attorney says surveillance video appears to show a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle deliberately hitting a man who was fleeing in Houston. His office is investigating the incident and has indicated that criminal charges could follow.
Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, suffered a broken leg and required surgery after being struck by a vehicle Saturday, according to Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group FIEL Houston, which is assisting Hernandez’s family.
The confrontation has intensified scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement in Houston. Local prosecutors are also examining a fatal July shooting involving a federal immigration officer.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, a Democrat, said he was troubled by video showing Hernandez and another person leaving a white truck and running while a dark SUV followed them. Moments later, the vehicle strikes Hernandez, who is shown lying on the pavement.
Teare told FOX 26 Houston that aggravated assault with a deadly weapon could be the most apparent criminal charge in the case. He said the vehicle may have been used as a deadly weapon, based on what appears in the surveillance footage.
Tim Oberle, an ICE spokesperson in Houston, offered a different account in a statement sent Saturday to The Texas Tribune. He said ICE officers were attempting to apprehend the men when “Miguel Parra-Hernandez ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck.”
Representatives of the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees ICE, did not immediately answer an emailed request for comment Tuesday.
Espinosa said Hernandez had lived in the United States for 34 years and was traveling to work when the encounter unfolded. He declined to disclose Hernandez’s immigration status.
During a hospital visit, Espinosa said he saw two ICE agents in Hernandez’s room.
Hernandez has already undergone surgery for the injury below his knee, Espinosa said. Doctors are waiting for the swelling in his ankle to subside before performing reconstructive surgery there.
Teare said neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security has cooperated with his office’s investigation into the Houston incident.
Teare made a similar complaint in July, saying DHS failed to provide information after an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. That death was among at least 10 fatalities linked to encounters with immigration officers since President Donald Trump began his mass deportation campaign.
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