{"id":481871,"date":"2026-10-30T23:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T23:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/481871\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T23:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T23:38:10","slug":"an-ice-officer-is-charged-with-assault-for-striking-a-man-with-a-car-in-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/481871\/","title":{"rendered":"An ICE officer is charged with assault for striking a man with a car in Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of intentionally ramming his car into a Mexican construction worker in Houston was indicted by a grand jury Friday on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

The officer, Mario Alberto Morales, was driving an unmarked SUV on Oct. 10 when he struck and ran over Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, who was running away during a pursuit through a parking lot, according to the Harris County District Attorney\u2019s Office. Parra Hernandez broke his leg and remains in federal custody at a rehabilitation facility, said District Attorney Sean Teare, who announced the indictment at a news conference that included body camera video of the encounter and a recording of Morales calling 911.<\/p>\n

ICE has asserted that Parra Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle, an account that Teare said is contradicted by video.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evidence we have in this case is as clear as any that I\u2019ve ever prosecuted or investigated,\u201d Teare said.<\/p>\n

Morales, 33, is one of just a few federal officers who have faced criminal charges over their actions on the job during President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown, although other encounters have come under investigation, including a fatal shooting by an ICE officer this summer in Houston.<\/p>\n

Morales\u2019 attorney, David Lindenmuth, said his client didn’t commit a crime and he accused Teare of indicting Morales \u201cfor political gain.\u201d Morales had worked as an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer for a little more than a year, Lindenmuth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Morales is truly a good man, a former member of our military, that has given his entire life to public service either for his country or in or adjacent to law enforcement,\u201d Lindenmuth told The Associated Press. \u201cTo have him charged for what was so clearly just an accident \u2014 the DA\u2019s office, the DA himself, has invented a crime out of thin air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teare hinted at concerns over Morales’ background but would not provide details.<\/p>\n

Morales, who is charged with a second-degree felony, was not in custody Friday and a warrant will be issued for his arrest, according to Teare.<\/p>\n

ICE asserted that local officials do not have the authority to investigate federal officers acting in the course of their duties.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllegations that ICE struck Miguel Parra-Hernandez intentionally are RECKLESS and FALSE,\u201d the agency said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The district attorney played Morales’ body camera footage <\/p>\n

Teare has said video clearly contradicts the ICE account. Surveillance video shows a Jeep Cherokee speed over a median and drive toward Parra Hernandez as he runs away. During a news conference Friday, he played Morales’ body camera footage, which shows him driving and talking about pursuing someone.<\/p>\n

The video shows Morales making a few sharp moves with the steering wheel before the SUV shakes. Morales stops the vehicle, then gets out and turns toward Parra Hernandez, who is several feet away. The video then shows Parra Hernandez on the ground and grabbing his leg, yelling in pain.<\/p>\n

Morales is heard saying, \u201cHe got hit with a car, bro.\u201d It is not clear to whom he is talking.<\/p>\n

Top Stories<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was coming in and I hit him with the car,\u201d Morales says.<\/p>\n

Family says ICE was looking for a dead person during operation <\/p>\n

Parra Hernandez has lived in Harris County for more than 30 years and did not have a deportation order or criminal background, according to Teare.<\/p>\n

Other aspects of ICE’s account have also been called into question.<\/p>\n

After Parra Hernandez was taken into custody, ICE released a photo of another man, Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, and said he was the target of the operation that day. ICE said he was seen entering a vehicle with Parra Hernandez. Family members of Parra Hernandez said they had never heard of him. FIEL, an immigrant rights group in Houston that has been working with the family, said Mendoza-Cervantes’ daughter told them her father has been dead since 2017.<\/p>\n

Teare\u2019s office has previously said its investigation has not found that Parra Hernandez and the man ICE identified as Mendoza-Cervantes were in a vehicle together, contrary to ICE\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

ICE has not responded to claims that the suspect they were looking for has been dead for years.<\/p>\n

Fatal summer Houston shooting also under investigation <\/p>\n

Teare has said the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has not cooperated with his investigators and accused ICE of destroying evidence \u201ceither intentionally or through gross negligence.\u201d He has said Morales left the scene before the vehicle could be impounded.<\/p>\n

In July, Teare said DHS also ignored his requests for information after an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in his van. DHS has said Salgado Araujo had \u201cweaponized his vehicle\u201d before the shooting and that an officer fired in self-defense. Other passengers in the van have disputed that account.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Wilder reported from Austin, Texas. Brook reported from New Orleans.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Wilder is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of intentionally ramming his car into a Mexican construction worker…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[162404,56,58,57],"class_list":["post-481871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-162404","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}