A federal judge said last week that three Border Patrol agents’ use of force was reasonable when a suspected smuggler was shot and killed following a chase in Campo five years ago, rejecting the argument that the agents had used excessive force.
U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia’s 16-page ruling, issued Thursday following a roughly two-week bench trial in San Diego earlier this month, found the agents’ actions or conclusions were “objectively reasonable” in the totality of the circumstances of the late night May 14, 2021, confrontation.
Silvestre Estrada Vargas, a 26-year-old U.S. citizen, was spotted picking up two men — undocumented migrants — in a suspected smuggling operation. He was shot when the chase ended in front of a Circle K on state Route 94. His mother and young son sued in 2022, alleging wrongful death, assault and battery, and negligence.
Battaglia said his analysis of the claims distilled down to whether the agents’ use of force was reasonable. He also noted that the case “ultimately comes down to events that occurred within just seven seconds.”
Agents had blocked Estrada’s car in the parking lot and moved in. It was stopped for about four seconds when Estrada revved the engine then accelerated at a speed of 4 or 5 mph.
Three of the agents opened fire. Among them was Agent Robert Godreau, who was eight to 12 feet in front of the vehicle when it moved forward.
Battaglia said Godreau’s use of force was reasonable, and said the plaintiffs “failed to offer credible evidence or analysis” that Godreau could have jumped out of the way.
“One cannot expect Agent Godreau to have gambled with his own life by speculating on Estrada’s intent or planned trajectory and hopefully jumping away,” the judge wrote. “Clearly, Estrada gambled with his own life.”
The judge also said agents Jason Alba and David Mathews, who fired one shot each, were justified in using deadly force.
The three agents fired a total of five shots. Estrada was struck once. Neither of his passengers was struck.
Battaglia concluded that the agents had no viable less-than-lethal or de-escalation options. And, he said, the notion they could have de-escalated the matter by letting Estrada drive off then spike-stripping his car farther down the winding rural road at night was “untenable.”
“The Court’s ruling confirms that these Border Patrol agents acted lawfully and appropriately under dangerous and rapidly evolving circumstances,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement. “Federal agents are authorized to use reasonable force to protect themselves and others while carrying out their mission to secure our borders.”
U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey Stalnaker said in a statement that the “safety of agents is paramount, and any act of violence directed at them will not be tolerated.”
“The court’s decision affirms our agents’ authority to act in defense of themselves and the public when faced with imminent threats,” Stalnaker said.
Josh Gruenberg, one of the attorneys who represented the plaintiffs, said he and his colleagues are considering their appeal options.
“In the end, the judge was willing to give the (agents) the benefit of the doubt with regards to their claims they were at risk,” Gruenberg said. “We strongly felt the forensic evidence showed they were not at risk, and if they were at risk, they could have easily gotten out of the way.”
Gruenberg said there was “no doubt this was a tragedy brought upon Estrada by himself” and that he and his colleagues had acknowledged that in court.
“Estrada acted … recklessly that night, we conceded that,” Gruenberg said. “But at some point shortly before he was killed, his car came to rest in front of a Border Patrol vehicle. At that time, we argue, there was time for a reset. His car was moving at 5 or 6 mph, the same speed a car might go through a supermarket parking lot. The idea that you can’t get out of the way is absurd.”
The confrontation came at the end of a 4-mile pursuit on state Route 94, after Border Patrol agents using surveillance tech spotted Estrada in a Nissan Altima picking up two men alongside the road. During the ensuing six-minute pursuit, Estrada swerved the Nissan in and out of lanes on both sides of the road, at times reaching 80 mph.
According to Battaglia’s ruling, which lays out the sequence of events, Estrada pulled into the gas station parking lot but crashed into a curb while looking for a way out. The passenger’s side of the Nissan sustained significant front-end damage. But it was still drivable.
Estrada backed the car up until it was blocked by a Border Patrol agent’s vehicle. The Nissan came to a stop.
Several agents approached the stopped Nissan, yelling commands to Estrada through the open driver’s side window.
“Although everyone else believed the vehicle chase was over, Estrada apparently thought otherwise,” the judge wrote.
The vehicle traveled between roughly 6 to 12 feet in about 1.6 seconds before Godreau opened fire, followed by Alba and Mathews, who each fired once within 1.1 seconds after the first of Godreau’s three shots, Battaglia said.
Battaglia wrote that Godreau had “assessed the imminent danger of serious injury or death to himself and fired. This was a reasonable use of force.”
The judge said Alba’s assessment that force was justified to save Godreau “was, all in all, reasonable.”
Estrada’s vehicle had turned left and traveled toward a wire fence. Mathews was on the other side of the fence and believed the car could breach it. The judge said Mathews’ “fear that he was in danger and his decision to fire were reasonable under the totality of the circumstances,” especially given Estrada’s actions during the chase and in the parking lot.
Battaglia noted that all the agents and the two cousins in the car with Estrada thought the chase had ended and were surprised when the car accelerated.