Texas grand jury indicts ICE officer accused of running over man in Houston

The officer faces charges after allegedly striking a fleeing construction worker with an SUV during an immigration raid.

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare during a briefing outside the office of Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia in Houston, July 10, 2026 [Annie Mulligan/AP]

A grand jury in Texas has indicted a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer accused of deliberately running over a Mexican construction worker during an operation in Houston this month.

ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the October 10 incident, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare announced on Friday.

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Criminal charges against federal immigration officers have been rare during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, although several encounters involving officers have prompted investigations.

Morales is accused of striking 48-year-old Miguel Parra-Hernandez, an immigrant who has lived in Harris County for more than 30 years. Teare said that Parra-Hernandez had no criminal record.

Parra-Hernandez was running away from federal agents when an unmarked black Jeep Cherokee struck him in a car park near Clay Road and Highway 6, according to investigators. He suffered multiple fractures to his right leg and an ankle injury which required surgery.

The indictment follows a dispute between local prosecutors and federal authorities over what happened. ICE has maintained that Parra-Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle, dismissing the allegations that the officer intentionally struck him as “reckless and false.”

But Teare has said surveillance video contradicts the agency’s account.

It shows the SUV crossing a median and pursuing Parra-Hernandez as he runs away. Although another vehicle obscures the moment of impact, the video shows the man on the ground moments later.

Authorities also released body-camera footage on Friday. In the recording, Morales can be heard acknowledging that he struck Parra-Hernandez with his vehicle.

Teare also accused federal authorities of failing to cooperate with the investigation, including by removing the Jeep before local investigators could examine it for potential evidence.

A search warrant obtained by local media shows investigators had not been granted access to the vehicle as of October 23.

The case has also raised questions about the operation’s intended target. ICE said agents were searching for a man identified as Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, whom they believed to be travelling with Parra-Hernandez.

But Mendoza-Cervantes’s daughter told The New York Times that her father died in 2017. Parra-Hernandez’s family has disputed that the two men knew each other.

The Morales indictment comes as the Harris County District Attorney’s Office continues investigating the fatal shooting of another Mexican, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo , on July 7.

An ICE officer, Gregory Feathers, has been accused of firing at the vehicle Salgado Araujo was driving on his way to work in Houston.

Federal authorities said the officer acted in self-defence, a claim the surviving passengers in the vehicle dispute.

据称，这名警官在一次移民突袭行动中，驾驶SUV撞倒了一名逃跑的建筑工人，目前面临指控。

2026年7月10日，哈里斯县地方检察官肖恩·蒂尔在休斯顿国会议员西尔维娅·加西亚办公室外举行简报会。[安妮·穆里根/美联社]

德克萨斯州的一个大陪审团起诉了一名美国移民和海关执法局 (ICE) 官员，指控他本月在休斯顿的一次行动中故意开车撞倒了一名墨西哥建筑工人。

哈里斯县地方检察官肖恩·蒂尔周五宣布，美国移民及海关执法局官员马里奥·阿尔贝托·莫拉莱斯因10月10日的事件面临使用致命武器进行严重袭击的指控。

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在唐纳德·特朗普总统的移民打击行动中，针对联邦移民官员的刑事指控很少见，尽管一些涉及官员的冲突事件引发了调查。

莫拉莱斯被控殴打48岁的米格尔·帕拉-埃尔南德斯，后者是一名移民，在哈里斯县生活了30多年。蒂尔表示，帕拉-埃尔南德斯没有犯罪记录。

据调查人员称，帕拉-埃尔南德斯在逃避联邦探员追捕时，在克莱路和6号公路附近的一个停车场被一辆没有标记的黑色吉普切诺基撞倒。他的右腿多处骨折，脚踝也受伤，需要手术治疗。

此次起诉源于当地检察官和联邦当局就事件经过的争议。美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）坚称帕拉-埃尔南德斯是自己跑到警车前面的，并驳斥了有关警官故意撞他的指控，称其“鲁莽且不实”。

但蒂尔表示，监控录像与该机构的说法相矛盾。

视频显示，这辆SUV越过中央隔离带，追赶逃跑的帕拉-埃尔南德斯。虽然另一辆车遮挡了撞击瞬间，但视频显示，几秒钟后，该男子倒在了地上。

当局周五还公布了执法记录仪的视频。录像中可以听到莫拉莱斯承认他开车撞了帕拉-埃尔南德斯。

蒂尔还指责联邦当局未能配合调查，包括在当地调查人员能够检查吉普车以寻找潜在证据之前就将其移走。

当地媒体获得的一份搜查令显示，截至 10 月 23 日，调查人员尚未获准进入该车辆。

此案也引发了人们对此次行动目标的质疑。美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）表示，特工们正在搜寻一名名叫何塞·门多萨-塞万提斯（Jose Mendoza-Cervantes）的男子，他们认为此人与帕拉-埃尔南德斯（Parra-Hernandez）同行。

但门多萨-塞万提斯的女儿告诉《纽约时报》，她的父亲已于 2017 年去世。帕拉-埃尔南德斯的家人则否认两人彼此认识。

莫拉莱斯被起诉之际，哈里斯县地方检察官办公室仍在调查另一名墨西哥人洛伦佐·萨尔加多·阿劳霍于 7 月 7 日被枪杀的案件。

美国移民及海关执法局 (ICE) 官员格雷戈里·费瑟斯被指控向萨尔加多·阿劳霍在休斯顿上班途中驾驶的车辆开枪。

联邦当局称该警官的行为属于自卫，但车上幸存的乘客对此说法提出异议。