A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, Mario Alberto Morales, was charged Friday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, prosecutors said. The Harris County District Attorney's office says Morales was driving an unmarked black vehicle on Oct. 10 when it struck Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, who was running away. Parra Hernandez was placed in custody with a broken leg. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the charge.
ICE has said Parra Hernandez stepped in front of the car and called accusations that the officer intentionally struck him false and reckless. District Attorney Sean Teare, a Democrat, said surveillance video contradicts the ICE account. The video does not show the impact, which is blocked by another vehicle, but it shows the SUV inches from Parra Hernandez as he runs. Teare said the officer fled the scene before the vehicle could be impounded and accused ICE of destroying evidence "either intentionally or through gross negligence."
ICE released a photo of another man, Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, and said he was the target of the operation. Family members of Parra Hernandez said they had never heard of him. FIEL, an immigrant rights group, said Mendoza-Cervantes' daughter told them her father has been dead since 2017. Teare also said the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has not cooperated with his investigators. Teare is also investigating a fatal shooting by an ICE officer in July.