Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare has launched a criminal investigation into a federal immigration agent who struck an illegal alien with a vehicle during an enforcement operation in northwest Harris County.
The October 10 incident occurred near Clay Road and Highway 6, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were attempting to apprehend Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, a Mexican national with multiple prior arrests and deportations.
During the operation, Miguel Parra-Hernandez, 48, fled from a pickup truck before being struck by an ICE vehicle. He was hospitalized with multiple fractures and has undergone surgery.
Teare announced that his office is investigating whether the agent intentionally struck Parra-Hernandez, potentially constituting aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. “From my perspective and from the perspective of a lot of different investigators who have looked at this, that individual was intentionally struck and run over,” Teare said.
ICE has disputed that characterization, maintaining that Parra-Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle while agents attempted to apprehend the fleeing men. “Allegations that ICE struck Miguel Parra-Hernandez intentionally are RECKLESS and FALSE,” the agency stated Tuesday.
According to ICE, Mendoza-Cervantes was the intended target of the operation. Federal officials say he has four previous arrests for driving under the influence, an arrest for unlawful firearm possession, and a final removal order issued by an immigration judge. ICE also reported that Mendoza-Cervantes has previously been deported twice and unlawfully entered the United States five times. He remained at large as of the agency’s latest statement.
Parra-Hernandez’ attorney, Kim Bruno, disputes ICE’s account of the men’s association, claiming her client has never met Mendoza-Cervantes. Surveillance footage obtained by local news outlets shows two men fleeing a pickup truck before an unmarked ICE vehicle crosses a median and enters a nearby parking lot. The vehicle subsequently approaches Parra-Hernandez, although the moment of impact is obscured in footage.
Teare also accused federal agents of interfering with the investigation by removing the ICE vehicle before Harris County investigators could obtain its crash data.
According to the district attorney, agents declined to consent to an examination of the vehicle, prompting local investigators to prepare a search warrant. Before the warrant could be obtained, an ICE agent allegedly drove the vehicle away. Teare claimed the vehicle’s subsequent operation may have erased information relevant to the investigation. ICE did not address those specific allegations in its statement.
The district attorney further alleged that two individuals already detained during an unrelated enforcement operation were inside the ICE vehicle when Parra-Hernandez was struck. Teare said his office would assist Parra-Hernandez and the two other detainees in seeking U visas, a federal immigration classification available to qualifying crime victims who assist law enforcement.
Under federal law, prosecutors may certify an individual’s cooperation with a criminal investigation, although U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services retains authority over whether to grant immigration status. Parra-Hernandez remains in ICE custody while receiving hospital treatment, according to local reports. His family and attorney have requested his release.
The investigation follows a separate Harris County criminal inquiry into the July 7 fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an ICE agent following a pursuit in Houston’s East End. Teare’s office has brought witnesses before a grand jury in that case, although no charges against the agents involved had been announced as of the latest reporting.
No criminal charges have been announced in connection with the October 10 collision.
