Fleeing the scene of a traffic stop has led to far graver charges for a Guatemalan national said to be residing illegally in North Texas.
The Northern District of Texas and United States Attorney Ryan Raybould announced this week that 43-year-old Senel Galiano Sagastume is being charged with hitting a uniformed Deputy U.S. Marshal with his pickup truck while fleeing a possible arrest in Dallas, according to a release Wednesday from the United States Department of Justice.
The incident occurred Tuesday when, according to a federal complaint cited by the DOJ, Sagastume was called by officers to pull to the side of a road. Sagastume and passengers in his truck refused to roll down their windows, which caused officers to breach the truck windows. At that point, Sagastume is alleged to put his truck in drive and accelerate towards a uniformed Deputy Marshal, wedging the Marshal between Sagastume’s truck and a law enforcement vehicle, causing bodily injury to the Marshal, according to the complaint.
Sagastume led a pursuit by authorities to an apartment in Richardson, the complaint further details. The suspect ran inside and an hours-long standoff commenced. Sagastume would eventually be arrested, and he now faces a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison if he is convicted. Charges against Sagastume include forcibly assaulting a federal officer and inflicting bodily injury.
Sagastume appeared in front of a United States Magistrate Judge in Dallas on Wednesday and he is currently in federal custody, according to the DOJ release.