Get you up to speed: Texas grand jury indicts ICE officer accused of running over man in Houston
A Texas grand jury has indicted ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales for allegedly running over Mexican construction worker Miguel Parra-Hernandez during an immigration operation in Houston on October 10. Parra-Hernandez, who suffered multiple fractures and required surgery, was reportedly fleeing from federal agents when he was struck by Morales’s SUV.
Investigators have not yet been granted access to the vehicle involved in the incident, as a search warrant obtained by local media shows that the Jeep still has not been examined as of October 23. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is concurrently looking into the shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, another case involving federal immigration officers.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare stated that surveillance video contradicts the claim by ICE that Miguel Parra-Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle, revealing the SUV pursuing him before the strike. Following the indictment, Teare condemned federal authorities for their lack of cooperation in the investigation and noted an ongoing inquiry into the circumstances surrounding another incident involving an ICE officer in Houston.
What remains unclear — The exact circumstances surrounding the pursuit and subsequent collision involving Morales and Parra-Hernandez, as well as the intended target of the ICE operation, remain disputed.
Texas grand jury indicts ICE officer for allegedly running over man in Houston
News|MigrationTexas 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.
Published On 30 Oct 202630 Oct 2026
Published On 30 Oct 202630 Oct 2026A 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.
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.