Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and other law enforcement officers arrested a Louisiana man wanted for murder and attempted murder near the Texas border with Mexico. The arrest followed a wreckless high-speed pursuit as the man and a partner allegedly attempted to smuggle migrants into the U.S. interior.
A DPS trooper assigned to Operation Lone Star attempted to stop a gray Toyota sedan on U.S. Highway 90 in Kinney County, Texas, for a traffic violation at about 9 a.m. on April 7, according to a statement by DPS spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez. Video shows the driver failed to yield and led multiple law enforcement agencies on a lengthy and dangerous high-speed pursuit.
A gray Toyota sedan is seized by police following an alleged human smuggling pursuit in Kinney County, Texas. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
The pursuit traveled along multiple roads, dirt roads, city streets, and highways. The driver even attempted to evade police by going off-road in the sedan.
The driver eventually crashed through a fence alongside a roadway causing the vehicle to stall. Two men jumped out of the sedan but were quickly and safely apprehended by police.
Migrants found after high-speed pursuit in Kinney County, Texas. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
After taking the men into custody, a search of the vehicle led to the discovery of six migrants who were later determined to be illegally present in the United States by Border Patrol agents. Two of the migrants were locked inside the trunk during the dangerous pursuit that included off-road driving.
Border Patrol agents later identified the migrants as citizens of Ecuador, Guatemala, and Honduras, Lt. Olivarez stated.
Police also found two loaded pistols inside the vehicle.
Two pistols were found in the alleged human smuggler’s vehicle following a pursuit. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
DPS officials identified the driver as 26-year-old Donald Ray Graves — a Louisiana man. The passenger is identified as 25-year-old Najoua Jabarie Harris — also from Louisiana. An investigation revealed Graves is a confirmed member of the Bloods gang and has multiple arrest warrants for two murder charges and two outstanding attempted murder charges from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Olivarez said in the written statement. Information on these alleged crimes can be found in a report published by WAFB CBS9.
Donald Ray Graves (L) and Najoua Jabarie Harris (R) were arrested on human smuggling charges in Kinney County, Texas. Graves is confirmed to be a Bloods gang member and is wanted in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on multiple charges of murder and attempted murder, DPS officials reported. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
DPS troopers turned Graves and Harris over to federal authorities after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas accepted federal alien smuggling charges, Olivarez continued.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives took custody of the two handguns to conduct a Trace and NIBIN investigation.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.