ICE Agent Ran Over a Man; Dead 'Target' Was the Excuse

Miguel Parra Hernandez was running across a Houston parking lot on Oct. 10 when an unmarked SUV driven by an ICE officer jumped a median, steered toward him and ran over both his legs. He has lived in Harris County for more than 30 years, with no deportation order and no criminal background, according to Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare. Today he's in federal custody at a rehabilitation facility with a broken leg and hip and ankle injuries. "We're also talking about a man who may never walk again," Teare said.

A Harris County grand jury indicted ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales, 33, on Friday for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years. He wasn't in custody Friday. A warrant for his arrest will be issued, Teare said.

What the Video Shows

Teare played surveillance footage from a local business showing the vehicle speeding over a median toward Parra Hernandez as he ran. Then he played body camera footage he said belonged to Morales. In it, Morales yanks the wheel left, the SUV shakes, and a wail rises. Parra Hernandez lies face-down on the pavement, grabbing his leg. "You ran over me," he cries in Spanish. Morales says, "I was coming in and I hit him with the car." He tries to lift Parra Hernandez by the shoulders. The man screams louder. Morales suggests putting him in the car.

ICE had a different story ready. Its statement said Parra Hernandez "ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck." Teare said the video contradicts that. The agency called the allegations "RECKLESS and FALSE" and dismissed the indictment as "nothing more than a political stunt by Houston sanctuary politicians."

Who Was the Target?

After the collision, ICE released a photo of a man named Jose Mendoza-Cervantes and said he was the target of that day's operation. Parra Hernandez's family said they'd never heard of him. FIEL, the Houston immigrant rights group working with the family, and attorney Kim Bruno said Mendoza-Cervantes' daughter told them her father has been dead since 2017. Teare said Friday that Mendoza-Cervantes has apparently been dead for nine years. ICE hasn't responded to claims that the man it says it was hunting has been dead that long.

Two other people were in the ICE vehicle when it struck Parra Hernandez, handcuffed and shackled. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said no law enforcement agency would deem that acceptable. One of them, Luis Delfín Martínez, was immediately detained. Teare's office managed to interview the other, Jose Presa Cañada, while he was held near the U.S.-Mexico border. "We're keeping very very constant tabs on where they are and as they're sadly being shipped out without any interviews and investigation," Teare said. Witnesses to a crime, moved out of reach.

The Apparatus Closes Ranks

Teare said the Department of Homeland Security hasn't cooperated with his investigators and accused ICE of destroying evidence "either intentionally or through gross negligence." He said Morales left the scene before the vehicle could be impounded. ICE's position, per its spokesperson, is that only federal agencies can investigate "federal officers acting in the course of their duties." Teare called that claim "false."

Morales' attorney, David A. Lindenmuth, says his client committed no crime and was charged "for political gain." He says Morales was caught "between the proverbial rock and a hard place," and calls him "a former member of our military" and an ordained Christian pastor. Lindenmuth described a man who spent two years as a military police officer and paratrooper, then worked alongside immigration officers transporting people arrested by ICE.

Teare said ICE hired Morales in August 2025, about one year and two months ago. Based on thousands of law enforcement applications he's reviewed, Teare said, "I'm not familiar with a single agency that would have hired this person." He wouldn't say why.

Months of Stonewalling

This isn't the only Houston case sitting on Teare's desk. His office is also investigating the July fatal shooting of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, shot in his van by an ICE officer during a vehicle stop. DHS says Salgado Araujo "weaponized his vehicle" and the officer fired in self-defense. Other passengers in the van dispute that account. Teare said DHS ignored his requests for information in that case too.

The indictment comes with a catch. AP reported Morales is one of just a few federal officers to face criminal charges over their actions on the job during Trump's immigration crackdown. NBC News reported it's the first indictment of an immigration agent in Texas. A county prosecutor, a Democrat elected to the job, had to move fast on a stranger's broken legs. He moved only because body cameras rolled and the sheriff's office and a civil rights division chief reached the scene right away.

Parra Hernandez, meanwhile, remains in federal custody, monitored 24 hours a day. "So, it's inhumane treatment on top of inhumane treatment, and anyone would struggle to stand up to that," Teare said. An advocate said he'd been doing stucco work when he was struck. The man who ran him down has a lawyer, an agency defending him, and a warrant that hasn't been served.

Teare's line on the badge deserves the last word, and he said it plainly: "an ICE badge does not give you free rein to injure, kill, or violate the constitutional rights of anyone." Whether any court enforces that sentence is the open question.