An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent driving an unmarked SUV mowed down a migrant before making a cruel comment as the victim writhed on the ground in pain.
Surveillance camera video showed Mario Alberto Morales, 33, pursuing and then striking Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, with his unmarked car on October 10 in Houston.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office said Parra Hernandez, a construction worker, was running away during a pursuit through a parking lot.
Parra Hernandez could be heard screaming in pain on the ground after being hit by Morales in body camera footage played by Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare at a press conference last Friday.
Morales exited the car and told a howling Parra Hernandez: 'Yeah, you got hit with a car, bro.'
Parra Hernandez was saying in Spanish that the ICE officer just 'ran over' him as he continued bellowing in agony.
Morales turned himself in on Monday after being indicted by a grand jury on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which he has denied.
Teare said Parra Hernandez broke his leg and was recovering at a rehabilitation facility while in federal custody.
Video captured ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales, 33, running over Miguel Parra Hernandez in Houston, Texas, on October 10 as the migrant ran away during a pursuit through a parking lot
Parra Hernandez broke his leg and was recovering at a rehabilitation facility while in federal custody, according to Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare
Morales exited his vehicle as Parra Hernandez screamed in pain on the floor and said, 'Yeah, you got hit with a car, bro'
Morales was also heard speaking with another officer after he arrived on the scene in the body camera footage.
'I was coming in and I hit [Parra Hernandez] with a car,' Morales told him.
Morales made his first appearance in Harris County's 488th District Court on Monday. Judge Matthew Peneguy set his bond at $30,000, which the officer posted.
ICE has said that Parra Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle, which Teare said was contradicted by video.
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'The evidence we have in this case is as clear as any that I've ever prosecuted or investigated,' Teare said.
Morales's attorney, David Lindenmuth, argued that what happened was an 'accident' and a political smear campaign right ahead of the midterm elections.
'He's full of s**t,' Lindenmuth previously told the Daily Mail. 'The DA knows it's an accident.'
Lindenmuth also blasted Teare for the timing, claiming the prosecutor had an 'agenda' when it came to the case.
'The DA hasn't found a microphone he doesn't want to talk to since this occurred,' Lindenmuth said. 'This was political to the DA from day one.'
Michael Wynne, who also represents Morales, told the press that Teare's timing was deliberate, as it was the last day of early voting on Friday.
Wynne claimed the prosecutor had decided the timing in order to 'make a certain news cycle.'
Teare has denied making the case political. He is also pushing to take the case to federal court.
Morales is scheduled to return to court on December 2.
He is still employed by ICE although his bond conditions bar him from having firearms, according to Click2Houston.
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.
He was in a vehicle that ICE tried to stop. He jumped out and was followed by Morales, who was in a Jeep Cherokee.
The officer's body camera footage that Teare played Friday showed Morales making sharp moves with the steering wheel before the SUV suddenly shakes.
In a 911 audio recording where Morales requested an ambulance, Parra Hernandez could still be heard yelling.
'He's fine,' Morales told the operator. 'He's just complaining of pain.'
Morales turned himself in on Monday. The ICE officer has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which he has denied
Parra Hernandez told deputies that he believed a police officer was stopping the vehicle he was in, but got scared and fled when the man began putting on a mask.
He repeatedly told deputies that Morales 'threw the car' at him, according to a Harris County Sheriff's Office incident report reviewed by the Associated Press.
Morales told deputies he did not intentionally hit Parra Hernandez. He acknowledged that he did not brake before hitting him, saying he was trying to avoid another truck in the parking lot.
Body camera video indicated that Morales had two other suspects in custody in his backseat, according to the report.
However, the deputy wrote that Morales told them there was no one else inside.
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 Mendoza-Cervantes.
An immigrant rights group in Houston that has been working with the family, FIEL, said Mendoza-Cervantes' daughter told them that her father has been dead since 2017.
Teare's office previously said its investigation did not find that Parra Hernandez and the man ICE identified as Mendoza-Cervantes were in a vehicle together, contrary to the agency's statement.
Morales had been working as an Enforcement and Removal Operations officer for ICE for a little more than a year, according to Lindenmuth.
He unsuccessfully ran for Congress this year and had also previously served in the Army.
Renee Good, a mother of three, was fatally shot on January 7 by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minnesota
Morales is one of the few federal officers who has faced criminal charges for his actions on the job during President Donald Trump's second administration.
However, other ICE encounters have also ended with injuries or even fatalities.
Renee Good, a mother of three, was fatally shot on January 7 by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, as protests against immigration raids expanded in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Good was killed while driving on a street where masked federal immigration officers were conducting an enforcement operation.
Bystander video showed Good in the driver's seat with her car blocking part of the road, as she repeatedly honks the horn.
Two immigration officers then exited a truck and demanded Good to get out of her car.
Almost simultaneously, her partner Becca Good, standing in the street, shouted: 'Drive, baby, drive!'
The officer standing in front of the vehicle pulled his weapon and fired into the windshield, lurching back as the car turned away from him.
He then fired two more times, killing Good. Federal officials at the time said the officer acted in self-defense and that Good had engaged in 'an act of domestic terrorism.'
Her family has sued the US government and several immigration officials Thursday, alleging wrongful death, conspiracy, and other violations.
A spokesperson for ICE told the Daily Mail on Thursday: 'This is nothing more than a political stunt by Houston sanctuary politicians. Federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be investigated by other Federal agencies. Local governments do not have the authority to run such an investigation.'
The ICE spokesperson added that 'allegations that ICE struck Miguel Parra-Hernandez intentionally' were 'RECKLESS and FALSE.'
'The men and women of ICE are entrusted with upholding the rule of law and are held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct,' the statement continued. 'As our brave law enforcement officers arrest and remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from our communities, America can be proud of the professionalism our officers bring the job day-in and day-out.'
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