A Harris County grand jury has indicted Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Mario Alberto Morales on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors say Morales struck Miguel Parra-Hernandez with a vehicle during an ICE operation earlier this month. According to reports, Parra-Hernandez suffered multiple fractures that required surgery. ICE said Morales and other agents were pursuing Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, a Mexican national, when the incident happened. ICE said Mendoza-Cervantes had been arrested four times for drunken driving, once for unlawful possession of a firearm, and had been deported twice. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said Mendoza-Cervantes had apparently been dead for nine years. Teare said Parra-Hernandez, 48, has lived in Texas for more than 30 years without documentation.
Teare said Morales "aggressively steered his vehicle into Parra-Hernandez." ICE disputes that account and says Parra-Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle. Teare also questioned Morales' qualifications, saying he was not aware of any law agency that would have hired Morales based on his past. U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz, who leads the Southern District of Texas, called the indictment a political prosecution. Reitz said he had reviewed the facts and law and saw no basis for federal charges at this time. ICE told The Associated Press the indictment was a political stunt and called the allegations that Parra-Hernandez was struck intentionally "RECKLESS and FALSE." According to Teare, if Morales is convicted, he could face two to 20 years in prison.