Houston ICE officer indicted for hitting worker with car

Mario Alberto Morales, a 33-year-old U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, faces a criminal charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after a grand jury indicted him on Friday. The charge stems from an incident on Oct. 10 in which Morales allegedly rammed his unmarked SUV into Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old construction worker, inside a Houston parking lot. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare announced the decision during a news conference, presenting body camera footage and a 911 call recording as primary evidence.

Parra Hernandez, who has lived in Harris County for more than 30 years, suffered a broken leg in the collision. He remains in federal custody at a rehabilitation facility. Teare stated that the video evidence clearly contradicts the account provided by ICE, which claimed the victim ran directly in front of the vehicle. Surveillance footage shows the SUV speeding over a median toward the man as he fled. The body camera video captures Morales making sharp steering adjustments before the vehicle shakes, stops, and he exits to check on the injured man.

Morales is heard on the recording saying, “He got hit with a car, bro.” He later states, “I was coming in and I hit him with the car.” Teare described the evidence as the clearest he has encountered in his career, noting that the visual record supports the prosecution's narrative over the agency's initial explanation.

Morales is not currently in custody, and a warrant for his arrest has been issued. The charge is a second-degree felony. David Lindenmuth, Morales' attorney, argued that his client did not commit a crime and accused Teare of pursuing the indictment for political gain. Lindenmuth noted that Morales served in the military before joining ICE, where he worked for just over a year as an Enforcement and Removal Operations officer.

“Mr. Morales is truly a good man, a former member of our military, that has given his entire life to public service either for his country or in or adjacent to law enforcement,” Lindenmuth said. He characterized the incident as an accident and claimed the district attorney's office invented a crime out of thin air. Teare hinted at concerns regarding Morales' background but declined to provide specific details during the announcement.

ICE disputed the local prosecution, asserting that state officials lack the authority to investigate federal officers acting within their duties. In a statement, the agency labeled the allegations of intentional impact as “RECKLESS and FALSE.” The agency also maintained that Parra Hernandez ran into the path of the vehicle, a timeline that Teare said is refuted by the available footage.

Questions have also emerged regarding the specific target of the operation that day. After taking Parra Hernandez into custody, ICE released a photo of Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, identifying him as the suspect they were seeking. ICE stated that Mendoza-Cervantes was seen entering a vehicle with Parra Hernandez. However, family members of Parra Hernandez said they had never heard of the name. FIEL, a Houston immigrant rights group working with the family, reported that Mendoza-Cervantes' daughter told them her father had been dead since 2017. Teare's office stated its investigation found no evidence that the two men were in a vehicle together.

Teare accused the Department of Homeland Security of failing to cooperate with investigators and of destroying evidence either intentionally or through gross negligence. He noted that Morales left the scene before the vehicle could be impounded. This indictment is part of a wider scrutiny of ICE actions under President Donald Trump's immigration policies. Teare is also investigating a fatal shooting in July involving an ICE officer and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, where DHS claimed the victim weaponized his vehicle, a version of events disputed by other passengers.