Houston DA weighs charges after ICE vehicle strikes construction worker

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare is considering criminal charges against the federal immigration officer whose vehicle struck a construction worker in Houston on 10 October.

The injured man is Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old construction worker from Mexico. He remains hospitalized with multiple leg fractures and needs reconstructive ankle surgery, according to FIEL, a Houston-based immigration advocacy group The Guardian.

Teare said surveillance footage contradicts the account from ICE that Parra Hernandez stepped in front of the vehicle. The video shows a black SUV speeding over a median toward a fleeing man, then shows the man on the ground.

ICE said officers had observed a target suspect, Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, enter a vehicle with Parra Hernandez. Rafael Lemaitre, a spokesperson for the Harris County District Attorney's Office, told the Associated Press that Mendoza-Cervantes was not in that vehicle.

A separate dispute concerns a photo released by ICE and identified as Mendoza-Cervantes. FIEL said the man in the photo is Jose Hector Jimenez, who died years ago while being pursued by federal immigration authorities as he tried to re-enter the United States. The group said Jimenez's family shared documentation proving his death, including a Mexican government death certificate turned over to the district attorney.

Andres Rendon confirmed to the Associated Press that Jose Hector Jimenez was the deceased father of his wife Jamie Jimenez.

FIEL, whose executive director is Cesar Espinosa, discussed the case at a news conference on Friday. Parra Hernandez's attorney is Kim Bruno.