Houston prosecutor says ICE collision witness sent to Mexico

An ICE vehicle struck and seriously injured Miguel Parra-Hernandez in northwest Houston on Oct. 10. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare says a witness whom his office interviewed was flown to Mexico hours later.

Witness access and removals

Two detainees were in the back of the ICE vehicle when Parra-Hernandez was struck, and the DA's office identified both as material witnesses. NBC News reported that the two men were handcuffed. Teare said his office contacted the consulates of the two detainees and Parra-Hernandez about possible U-visa applications for the two detainees, whom the office identified as material witnesses.

In one account, Teare said that before his office requested an interview, ICE had moved one detainee witness more than 300 miles south to the Port Isabel detention center. Separately, the DA's office said ICE told it to reach Port Isabel quickly because it planned to deport key witness José Presa Cañada. The accounts do not establish whether the transferred detainee, Presa Cañada and the witness later flown to Mexico were the same person.

In a separate account, Teare described the witness interviewed by his office and later flown to Mexico:

“The interview for us ended at about 8 p.m. that night. He was on a plane sent to Mexico by 1 o’clock the next morning.”

Teare has accused DHS and ICE of failing to cooperate with the investigation.

Evidence and competing accounts

ABC News, NBC News and The Independent reviewed or described surveillance and security video; their accounts describe an ICE vehicle moving toward Parra-Hernandez as he ran. Those accounts describe a black SUV speeding over a median and driving toward a man who was running away, but another vehicle blocks the view of the car hitting the man. The accounts do not resolve the collision's intent.

Teare said surveillance and drone footage gathered by his office made the intentional nature of the collision apparent.

DHS rejected Teare's allegation as reckless and false. ICE said Parra-Hernandez ran in front of its vehicle as officers tried to apprehend men fleeing on foot. Harris County Sheriff's Office Major Anthony McConnell said the agent was trying to box in a wanted suspect at the back of a building when the agent struck "the passenger." McConnell's statement did not identify whom he meant by that term.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office has opened an investigation into the collision. Based on his view of the footage, Teare said the collision was intentional and identified aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as the most obvious potential charge, with the car as the weapon. The Independent reported that no criminal charges had been announced. In its report, NBC News said Teare's office was compiling information and could present the case to a grand jury as soon as the following week.

DHS said the ICE officer who drove the vehicle had been placed on administrative leave. DHS also said personnel at the scene wore body cameras and that ICE was reviewing video internally. DHS's statement did not address whether the cameras were activated or whether footage had been publicly released. NBC News reported that federal vehicle-stop guidance issued two weeks before its report required officers to wear and activate body cameras. Teare separately warned that moving the vehicle may have automatically erased critical data.

Dispute over ICE's target

The competing accounts begin with who ICE says it was seeking. ICE said the operation targeted Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, not Parra-Hernandez, and said Mendoza-Cervantes had a final removal order and a criminal history in Dallas County. Houston Public Media reported that its searches of Dallas and Harris County court records found no criminal cases involving him.

On whether Mendoza-Cervantes was connected to Parra-Hernandez's vehicle, a DA spokesperson told The Associated Press that he was not in it. Cesar Espinosa of FIEL Houston said Parra-Hernandez did not know the man ICE identified as its target and that nobody associated with Parra-Hernandez recognized him.

Regarding the target photo, FIEL and attorneys say the man shown was J. Hector Jimenez Mendoza, citing a Mexican death certificate listing his death in 2017 in Laredo, Texas. Houston Public Media reported that it had not independently verified the reported death certificate. ICE, however, said Mendoza-Cervantes fled the scene and remained at large as of the Saturday after the Oct. 10 collision.

Espinosa accused ICE of lying, said FIEL had given its documentation to the district attorney and demanded that the agency release all body-camera footage. He also argued that the stop reflected racial profiling, saying officers should not pull people over merely because they resemble someone or drive a white truck to work.

Medical treatment and transfer concerns

Parra-Hernandez remained in ICE custody while receiving hospital treatment. FIEL said he suffered multiple fractures and had already undergone surgery. FIEL also said he was expected to need further treatment, including ankle reconstruction once swelling allows it.

Espinosa warned that inadequate medical care could lead to infections and other life-threatening problems. Advocates, family members and Parra-Hernandez's representatives oppose moving or deporting him and the detainee witnesses while the case is investigated, citing the men's importance as witnesses. Separately, FIEL is seeking his release before any transfer to a federal detention center.