EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A male driver in his 20s is facing multiple charges after allegedly crashing an SUV carrying migrants into the wall of a West El Paso restaurant.
The crash occurred around 7 a.m. on Thursday along North Mesa Street, shortly after authorities started tracking the vehicle.
“The driver evaded, there was no pursuit. Later, the vehicle ends up crashing here. The officers arrive, locate the six people in the vehicle. The driver fled from the officers on foot,” said El Paso Police spokesman Enrique Carrillo.
He said the driver was apprehended and five undocumented migrants inside the vehicle at the time of the crash were transported to a hospital, one with serious injuries.
The driver, who’s name was not immediately released, is facing charges of evading in a motor vehicle, evading on foot and human smuggling, Carrillo said.
Police did not specify which authority the driver was initially fleeing from. An hour after the crash, the wrecked white SUV could still be seen on the corner of a front wall at Como’s Italian Restaurant, 4030 N. Mesa St.
This is the second major crash in just over two weeks involving human smuggling events. The previous one in nearby Santa Teresa, New Mexico, resulted in the death of two citizens of Mexico.
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