A traffic stop turned into a chase

On Saturday, 10 October, a 48-year-old construction worker was driving to his job in Houston with a passenger when federal immigration agents tried to pull the car over. ICE said it was pursuing a different man, and that when the occupants ran, the worker stepped into the path of an agency vehicle and was struck. Footage captured by a nearby business reportedly shows him and a companion sprinting away as an agency SUV swings around a corner and appears to hit him from behind. Video aired by KTRK shows a dark, unmarked SUV following him across an open stretch of a shopping center parking lot and veering toward him. FIEL Houston, an immigrant rights group, is helping the worker's family.

Prosecutors weigh charges

Sean Teare, the Harris County district attorney, said his office opened an investigation and that investigators do not believe the collision was accidental. He pointed to the surveillance video as the basis for that view, and he said the charge most likely to apply is the one he described.

In a case like this, the most obvious criminal charge is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Teare said investigators also believe the SUV was carrying people held after an earlier stop, and that the driver had no reason to chase the worker. He added that ICE and DHS have not cooperated with his office during the inquiry. No charges had been filed as of the latest reporting, and Homeland Security spokespeople had not replied to requests for comment by Tuesday.

Injuries and custody

Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL Houston, said the worker has a broken leg and injuries to his hip and ankle. He said more operations are planned, including reconstructive surgery on the ankle once the swelling goes down. Espinosa also said he saw two ICE agents in the worker's hospital room during a visit, and he described the impact as violent and brutal. Attorney Kim Bruno told reporters at a news conference on Monday, 12 October, that the worker remains in ICE custody and faces further surgery and many weeks of recovery. Bruno said the worker had told her he ran because he could not tell who was in the dark vehicle, and that neither he nor his passenger knew the man agents were pursuing. She also said the ICE vehicle was not using a siren or flashing lights.

Wider scrutiny of immigration enforcement

Local prosecutors also looked into a July fatal shooting by a federal immigration officer, and Teare said DHS ignored his request for information about that case. That killing is among at least ten deaths tied to encounters with immigration officers since Donald Trump launched his mass deportation drive. Earlier in October, ICE adopted new traffic-stop rules saying vehicles should be equipped with lights and sirens, without requiring that they be used. A memo from Marcos Charles, an ICE executive associate director, says officers may no longer chase vehicles that refuse to stop, and the Associated Press obtained a copy.