Grand jury issues indictment in ICE-related crash, Texas officials say

Oct 30 (Reuters) – A Texas grand jury has indicted a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer after he struck a man with his vehicle earlier this month, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s office and media reports.

ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales was charged with aggravated assault for hitting Miguel Parra Hernandez with his vehicle, according to an indictment cited by multiple US news outlets.

The district attorney’s office, in a post on its website, said a grand jury had issued an indictment in an ICE-related crash in Houston and released copies of 911 calls as well as dashcam and other video from the October 10 incident.

Representatives for the office did not immediately return a request for comment. ICE could not immediately be reached, but in a statement to the Associated Press called the allegations reckless and false.

One of the videos released shows two men running before a large SUV appears to speed up behind one of them in a parking lot. One man can then be seen on the ground screaming in pain.

“He got hit with a car, bro,” a person can be heard saying in a second video.

The 911 recordings include someone identifying himself as Officer Mario Morales “with Immigration” requesting an ambulance.

“So we’re following this guy, trying to pull him over. He jumps out of the vehicle. I try to get around him and he hit my car,” Morales said on the call.

Parra Hernandez remains in custody and is recovering from injuries that include a broken leg, the New York Times, AP and others reported.

Local officials are also investigating the killing of another man, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, by a US agent in Houston earlier this year. The killing has shaken the century-old Latino community in Houston’s East End and prompted protests.

President Donald Trump has bolstered ICE as part of a vast immigration crackdown he promised during his presidential campaign. Polls show Trump’s handling of immigration policies has troubled some voters, and the issue has become part of midterm election campaigns in states including Texas.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Daniel Wallis)