A federal immigration officer has been indicted on a felony charge after allegedly striking a fleeing man with an unmarked vehicle during an enforcement operation in Houston, Texas prosecutors announced Friday.
A Harris County grand jury indicted Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer Mario Alberto Morales, 33, on a charge of second-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, District Attorney Sean Teare said at a news conference. If convicted, Morales could face between two and 20 years in prison, NBC News reported.
Dispute Over Video Evidence
The indictment stems from an Oct. 10 incident near Clay Road and Highway 6. According to prosecutors, Morales was driving an unmarked Jeep Cherokee while pursuing a pickup truck. After two men exited the truck and fled on foot across a parking lot, Morales steered his vehicle toward 48-year-old Miguel Parra Hernandez, striking him and causing severe injuries, ABC News reported.
Parra Hernandez suffered multiple leg fractures, an ankle injury and a hip injury requiring surgery, officials and relatives said. Teare told reporters that Parra Hernandez, a Mexican construction worker who has lived in the area for more than three decades, had no prior criminal record or active deportation order.
During Friday’s briefing, prosecutors released footage from Morales’ body-worn camera synchronized with private surveillance video. The recording showed the officer turning the steering wheel toward the fleeing man before an impact is heard, followed by Parra Hernandez crying out in pain on the ground, ABC News reported. In an emergency call played at the briefing, Morales told dispatchers that the man ran in front of his vehicle.
“An ICE badge does not give you free rein to injure, kill, or violate the constitutional rights of anyone,” Teare said, describing the evidence as exceptionally clear.
Agency and Defense Push Back
ICE leaders disputed the allegations and asserted that local authorities lack jurisdiction over federal operations. In a statement reported by multiple outlets, an ICE spokesperson labeled the indictment “nothing more than a political stunt by Houston sanctuary politicians” and characterized claims of an intentional strike as “reckless and false.” The agency also stated that federal employees performing official duties may only be investigated by federal entities.
Morales’ defense attorney, David A. Lindenmuth, said his client was charged with “a crime created out of thin air,” NBC News reported. Lindenmuth said Morales was attempting to avoid an oncoming vehicle and made an evasive maneuver rather than intentionally targeting the runner. The attorney noted Morales had served as a military police officer, paratrooper and ordained pastor, with no prior excessive-force complaints on record.
Teare noted that Morales was hired in August 2025 during an agency staffing expansion, arguing that prior background details raised questions about his suitability for law enforcement, though the prosecutor did not provide specifics on previous employment.
Witnesses and Operation Targets
Investigators also revealed complications surrounding the initial operation. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said two people who had been detained in an unrelated earlier action were riding handcuffed in the back seat of Morales’ SUV when the collision took place, a practice Gonzalez criticized as hazardous.
Federal officials said the team was searching for Jose Mendoza Cervantes. However, relatives told advocates and reporters that Mendoza Cervantes died in 2017, The Guardian and Al Jazeera reported. Immigration advocacy group FIEL released a Mexican death certificate for the man depicted in federal search notices, identifying him as an individual who died nine years ago.
Teare also alleged that federal authorities deported at least two material witnesses over local objections before investigators could fully question them. Parra Hernandez remains in federal custody while undergoing medical care at a rehabilitation center, where officials continue removal proceedings against him, according to prosecutors.
