A Harris County grand jury on Friday indicted Mario Alberto Morales, an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. District Attorney Sean Teare said Morales faces a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, with his vehicle named as the weapon.
The charge stems from an Oct. 10 vehicle pursuit in Houston. Teare said footage reviewed by his office shows an unmarked patrol vehicle striking Miguel Parra-Hernandez, 48. Surveillance video from a nearby business shows two men leaving a white pickup and running in different directions, and a black SUV following one of them from behind. Teare said the evidence was as clear as any he had prosecuted or investigated.
The district attorney's office also shared ICE body camera footage showing Morales getting out of his vehicle after the pedestrian's legs were run over. Parra-Hernandez was on the ground, crying out in agony, according to the footage described by Teare.
ICE said agents were searching for Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, who had a deportation order, and believed he was in the same truck as Parra-Hernandez. Mendoza-Cervantes's daughter later told the New York Times that her father died nearly a decade ago.