EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — A Honduran man sped off during a checkpoint inspection, injuring a Border Patrol agent, officials said.
Border Patrol agents referred a Dodge Ram 2500 to a more extensive inspection about midnight Oct. 7 at a checkpoint near Carrizo Springs, Texas. When agents determined the two occupants were Honduran nationals and tried to detain them, the driver accelerated and hit an agent, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection news release.
Agents apprehended the driver and the passenger, described only as being 28 and 17, when they bailed from the truck.
A local hospital treated and released the injured agent.
“Acts of violence against our agents will not be tolerated,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a statement. “This incident is an example of criminals who have a blatant disregard for the law as well as the safety of agents and the general public.”
Agents determined the 28-year-old man had been previously arrested in Laredo for entering the country illegally in July 2016. He now faces a charge of assault on a federal officer, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The 17-year-old had been previously arrested in Brownsville for entering the country illegally in March 2019.
