Houston prosecutor charges ICE agent with aggravated assault after vehicle collision

The Harris County District Attorney's office formally charged Mario Alberto Morales, a 33-year-old Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on Friday. A grand jury returned the indictment following a review of evidence related to a collision that occurred on October 10. Morales was driving an unmarked vehicle when he struck Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old construction worker who was running through a parking lot.

District Attorney Sean Teare announced the charges at a press conference and played body-camera footage from the incident. Teare stated that Parra Hernandez suffered a broken leg and remains in federal custody at a rehabilitation center. The prosecutor described the evidence as clear, noting that the video contradicted the initial account provided by the federal agency.

ICE previously claimed that Parra Hernandez stepped directly into the path of the vehicle. Teare said the body-camera video shows Morales making several sharp turns with the steering wheel before the vehicle shuddered. In the footage, Morales stops the car, exits the vehicle, and approaches Parra Hernandez, who is lying on the ground holding his leg. Morales tells the man, "A car hit you, brother," and later tells another agent, "I was coming in and I hit him with the car."

In a 911 call, Morales requested an ambulance while Parra Hernandez could be heard screaming. Morales told the dispatcher that the man was fine and only complaining of pain. Parra Hernandez told police officers that he believed a police officer was stopping the vehicle he was in but became frightened when the man put on a mask and ran. He told agents repeatedly that Morales "threw the car at me."

David Lindenmuth, Morales' attorney, stated that his client did not commit a crime and called the incident an accident. Lindenmuth described Morales as a veteran and a public servant, arguing that the prosecutor created a case for political reasons. "They pulled a crime out of thin air," Lindenmuth said in an interview with The Associated Press. Morales has worked in ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division for just over one year.

Teare indicated that he has concerns about Morales' background but did not provide specific details. The agent faces a second-degree felony charge and was not in custody as of Friday. An arrest warrant is expected to be issued. Parra Hernandez has lived in Harris County for more than 30 years and had no prior criminal record or deportation order.

ICE later identified Jose Mendoza Cervantes as the target of the operation, claiming he was seen entering the vehicle with Parra Hernandez. Kim Bruno, Parra Hernandez' attorney, said the client suffered nerve damage and chronic pain in addition to the fracture. Family members said they had never heard of Mendoza Cervantes. The immigrant rights group FIEL noted that Mendoza Cervantes' daughter told them her father died in 2017. The ICE has not responded to the claim that the suspect was deceased.

The Harris County police incident report noted that Morales told officers he did not intentionally hit Parra Hernandez. He acknowledged he did not brake before the collision and said he was trying to avoid hitting another SUV in the parking lot. Body-camera video showed two other suspects in the back seat, though Morales wrote in a report that no one else was in the vehicle.