An Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle struck and seriously injured a Houston man during an immigration operation on Oct. 10, and he was taken into federal custody even though agents had been seeking someone else, according to ICE and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
The man, Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, was hospitalized with a broken leg and underwent surgery, the authorities said. The incident happened about 7:20 a.m. on Clay Road in northwest Houston, Texas Public Radio reported, citing the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
ICE said it had been carrying out a targeted operation to arrest Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, whom it described as the driver of the vehicle and as a man with a final order of removal and a criminal history in Dallas County. According to Texas Public Radio, a search of local court records found no criminal cases against Mendoza-Cervantes in Dallas or Harris County, and ICE did not immediately address that discrepancy. ICE said Mendoza-Cervantes fled on foot and remained at large as of Saturday evening. Parra Hernandez’s family has said the man who was with him was not the person ICE was seeking; his brother told CNN, “The person ICE was looking for was not the person with my brother.”
The federal agency and the local sheriff describe the collision differently.
In a written statement, an ICE spokesperson said that “as ICE officers attempted to apprehend the illegal aliens, Miguel Parra-Hernandez ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck.” ICE said officers “immediately contacted EMS and provided aid,” described his injuries as “non-life-threatening,” said he was in stable condition, and said he does not have legal status in the United States.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office offered a different description. Major Anthony McConnell said ICE agents were “in pursuit of a wanted suspect” and that “the ICE agent was trying to box him in to the backside of the building at the corner” and “struck the passenger.” McConnell said the man was taken to the hospital and that deputies believed he had a broken leg. Surveillance footage from the area, described by CNN, showed two men running into a parking lot followed by an unmarked black SUV; the moment of impact was blocked from view by a parked truck, and Parra Hernandez was later seen lying in front of the SUV.
Accounts of the severity of his injuries also vary. ICE called them non-life-threatening. Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the Houston immigrant-rights organization FIEL, told reporters the man’s leg was “broken in three places” and that he faced additional surgery. His niece, Natxielly Castañeda, told ABC13 that she had been told he had two broken legs, calling the news “devastating.”
Castañeda told ABC13 that her uncle came to the United States more than 30 years ago, when he was 14, and had been working to obtain U.S. citizenship. “We are here not to cause problems,” she said.
Espinosa said the man was taken into ICE custody after being struck. “To add insult to injury, Mr. Miguel is in the custody of the ICE agents who ran him down,” he said, adding that he had been able to visit the hospital only briefly with the man’s attorney before agents entered and began recording the conversation. Espinosa called for accountability: “We must hold all parties accountable and demand a thorough, transparent investigation,” he said, and asked, “Why does this keep happening?”
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating the collision.
The Houston case is one of several recent incidents involving ICE and vehicles. Texas Public Radio noted that it occurred about three months after an ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston in July. On Oct. 8, an ICE officer shot and wounded Oscar Belgal as he sat in a car with his five-year-old son in the Marble Hill neighborhood of New York City, according to the Associated Press.
As of Saturday evening, Jose Mendoza-Cervantes remained at large, ICE said. Parra Hernandez was being treated at a Houston hospital while in ICE custody, and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigation was continuing.
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