A human smuggling suspect crashed his vehicle while attempting to flee Border Patrol agents in southern California. The crash caused the driver to receive severe head trauma, requiring airlift transportation to an area hospital.
Border Patrol agents attempted to stop a vehicle on Highway 78, near State Road 2, early Sunday morning. The driver refused to yield and led the agents on a high-speed chase. While attempting to evade arrest, the suspect lost control of his vehicle and rolled over. The driver received serious head trauma and torso injuries. Agents called an air ambulance that transported him to a Palm Springs medical facility for treatment, according to information obtained by Breitbart Texas from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials.
The suspected human smuggler had two passengers riding with him. These suspected illegal aliens received minor injuries. Border Patrol agents sent them to an Escondido hospital for evaluation.
“The driver of this vehicle is an associate of one of the Indio Border Patrol Station’s top two alien smuggling organizations,” Indio Station Patrol Agent in Charge Scott Garrett said in a written statement. “The driver chose to flee and wound up seriously injuring himself. Fortunately, the two individuals he was smuggling were not seriously injured, otherwise, he would be facing additional felony charges.”
Information provided by CBP officials did not disclose any information about the citizenship, nationality, or immigration status of the driver or the two suspected illegal aliens.
This is the second rollover crash involving a human smuggler in the El Centro Sector in recent weeks. Breitbart Texas reported on January 23 about a crash involving a human smuggler attempting to flee from Border Patrol agents from the Yuma and El Centro Sectors.
Agents observed the suspected smuggler driving eastbound on the interstate. The driver of the white Acura suddenly took the Greys Well exit and abruptly u-turned under an overpass. One of the agents from the Yuma Sector attempted to stop the Acura. The driver failed to yield and sped off. The driver and his cargo of six illegal aliens, all received minor injuries.
The agents from the Yuma Sector and the Calexico Stations eventually lost sight of the suspect’s vehicle. A continued search revealed the suspect had lost control of his car and rolled over.
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reinstated a Texas anti-harboring law that provides a tool for law enforcement and prosecutors to use in the fight against human smuggling, Breitbart Texas reported last week.
The law makes the harboring of an illegal alien a third-degree felony, punishable by a two-ten year prison sentence and a fine of up to 10,000. It also adds a provision increasing the penalties and imposing a second-degree felony level if the alien is a minor, or if the harboring creates the possibility of serious bodily injury or death, Breitbart Texas reported. It created a first-degree felony crime for a situation where the person suffers sexual assault during the harboring, or the victim experiences serious bodily injury or death.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.