{"id":255046,"date":"2026-04-07T03:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T03:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/255046\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T03:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T03:01:07","slug":"border-agent-indicted-in-san-diego-also-faces-civil-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/255046\/","title":{"rendered":"Border agent indicted in San Diego also faces civil lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

A U.S. Border Patrol agent indicted on criminal charges last week<\/a> in San Diego for the 2022 shooting of an unarmed 19-year-old U.S. citizen has been placed on administrative leave by the Border Patrol and is also facing a civil lawsuit filed by the young man he shot, according to new details that emerged Monday.<\/p>\n

Marcos Javier Andrade made an initial appearance Monday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, where he pleaded not guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Andrade was not in custody, and a U.S. magistrate judge allowed him to remain out of custody on $50,000 bond.<\/p>\n

Andrade\u2019s defense attorney told a judge that Border Patrol officials placed his client on administrative leave Friday, a day after federal prosecutors unsealed the indictment.<\/p>\n

That indictment alleges that on July 11, 2022, Andrade tried to stop a minivan that he suspected of smuggling undocumented immigrants on a highway in Calexico, in Imperial County. The van was being driven by a teen \u201cwho was unarmed and was not engaged in smuggling activity,\u201d according to the indictment. Andrade allegedly pulled up next to the van after the teen became stuck in traffic, exited his Border Patrol vehicle and almost immediately fired eight shots at the driver, striking him in his neck, hip, shoulder and hand.<\/p>\n

The indictment also alleges that Andrade had twice been disciplined previously for shooting \u201cat civilians\u201d in 2012 and 2017, and that after the Calexico shooting, he \u201crefused to answer basic safety questions that all Border Patrol agents are required to answer on scene\u201d after they are involved in a shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have serious concerns about whether the evidence supports the elements required to prove these charges, particularly given what was known at the time of the incident nearly four years ago,\u201d defense attorney Miguel Pe\u00f1alosa told the Union-Tribune after the hearing. \u201cWe intend to challenge the case vigorously in court and ensure Mr. Andrade\u2019s due process rights are upheld.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorneys for the driver shot in Calexico identified him Monday as Anthony Flores and said he continues to suffer both physical and psychological injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say that he will never fully recover,\u201d attorney Marcus Bourassa said at a news conference after Monday\u2019s hearing in the criminal case.<\/p>\n

Bourassa and Tim Scott, both from the firm McKenzie Scott, filed a lawsuit on Flores\u2019 behalf in July 2024, though at the time they did not yet know Andrade\u2019s identity. That suit alleges that Andrade violated Flores\u2019 \u201cFourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, including freedom from unreasonable and excessive force.\u201d It also alleges assault, battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment.<\/p>\n

The attorneys said Andrade \u201cshould have been arrested\u201d the day of the shooting and should have been denied bail Monday, but they were still grateful that a grand jury indicted him and that the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office was prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision of prosecutors to actually pursue justice is very exciting for us,\u201d Bourassa said Monday. \u201cIt\u2019s very rare that they stand up for members of the public against law enforcement. It\u2019s especially rare against the Department of Homeland Security, and so we\u2019re very encouraged that they\u2019re taking it seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott said it is difficult to hold federal law enforcement officers accountable in civil cases \u201cfor even the most blatant violations of civil rights.\u201d He said federal law and recent Supreme Court decisions have made it so that \u201cthe courthouse doors are all but shut for a citizen trying to get justice against an individual officer in a civil context.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that point, U.S. District Judge James Simmons Jr. in October granted Andrade\u2019s motion to dismiss the complaint filed by Flores, essentially dismissing the case. But the judge allowed Flores and his attorneys to file an amended complaint. Simmons is now weighing once again whether to allow the case to move forward or to again dismiss it.<\/p>\n

An attorney representing Andrade in the civil matter did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment late Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Bourassa and Scott said they only learned about Andrade\u2019s two previous shootings through the indictment, and they asked that anyone with information about those shootings or the shooting involving their client in 2022 come forward.<\/p>\n

Andrade\u2019s next hearing in the criminal case is set for May, at which time a district judge is expected to set a trial date and other key deadlines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A U.S. Border Patrol agent indicted on criminal charges last week in San Diego for the 2022 shooting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,1312,138,181,23,100,74,84,76,75,1696],"class_list":{"0":"post-255046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-san-diego-county","16":"tag-san-diego-headlines","17":"tag-san-diego-news","18":"tag-top-stories-sdut"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}