Harris County seeks ICE vehicle witnesses after Houston collision

Harris County prosecutors are seeking to interview two people reported to have been in an ICE vehicle when it struck and injured Miguel Parra Hernandez in Houston on Saturday, October 10. The detainees were moved before investigators could speak with them at the scene, ABC News reported, while advocates fear they could be deported before giving their accounts.

District Attorney Sean Teare identified the two people as potential witnesses, according to ABC. He said federal agents took them to a detention facility; ABC described them as still detained when it published its report. The reports do not establish whether prosecutors have since interviewed them or whether either faces deportation.

One reported witness identified by his sister

Nidia Delfín identified one detainee as her brother, 48-year-old Luis Delfín Enríquez, NBC News reported. She said he was handcuffed in the vehicle when it hit Parra Hernandez. Delfín said her brother was apprehended on his way to breakfast with employees.

Cesar Espinosa, who represents Parra Hernandez’s family, said the two people in the vehicle witnessed the collision, according to NBC. Their possible accounts matter because the prosecutor and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have offered different descriptions of how the vehicle struck Parra Hernandez.

Prosecutor and ICE dispute how the vehicle struck him

ICE rejected the allegation of an intentional strike as ‘reckless’ and ‘false,’ according to the Associated Press. ABC reported ICE’s account that agents were pursuing Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, that he and Parra Hernandez fled on foot, and that Parra Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle. NBC reported ICE said Parra Hernandez was not its target. Espinosa disputed ICE’s identification of the other man, saying Parra Hernandez and that man did not recognize Mendoza-Cervantes.

ABC said surveillance video it reviewed appeared to show the ICE vehicle moving toward the running man and striking him. The Associated Press described footage of Parra Hernandez and another person leaving a white truck and running as a dark SUV pursued them, with Parra Hernandez seen on the ground seconds after a vehicle struck him. Neither account resolves whether the contact was intentional.

Prosecutors interviewed Parra Hernandez in hospital on Tuesday, ABC reported. He was in stable condition, and Teare said he had not been charged with a crime. NBC reported that the Trump administration had issued guidance two weeks earlier requiring officers at vehicle stops to wear and activate body cameras. DHS and ICE did not immediately answer NBC’s questions about releasing body camera footage or the officer’s status.