ICE Officer Indicted for Ramming Construction Worker in Houston

Mario Alberto Morales, a 33-year-old Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, was indicted by a Harris County grand jury on Friday for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors say Morales intentionally drove his unmarked SUV into Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old Mexican construction worker, during a pursuit in a Houston parking lot on October 10.

District Attorney Sean Teare announced the charge at a news conference, playing body camera footage that contradicts the agency's initial account. The video shows Morales making sharp steering maneuvers before the vehicle lurches. He stops, steps out, and sees Parra Hernandez on the ground clutching his leg. Morales is heard saying, "He got hit with a car, bro," and later adds, "I was coming in and I hit him with the car."

Parra Hernandez broke his leg in the incident. He remains in federal custody at a rehabilitation facility. Teare stated that the evidence in the case is as clear as any he has prosecuted, noting that surveillance video shows the SUV speeding over a median and driving toward the worker as he ran away. This visual evidence, according to Teare, disputes the claim that Parra Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle.

Morales' attorney, David Lindenmuth, maintains that his client did not commit a crime. Lindenmuth accused Teare of seeking political gain and described the incident as an accident. He noted that Morales served in the military and has spent his career in public service. "The DA’s office, the DA himself, has invented a crime out of thin air," Lindenmuth told the Associated Press.

The indictment comes as local officials scrutinize federal operations in the area. Teare’s office previously stated that its investigation found no evidence that Parra Hernandez was with Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, the man ICE identified as the target of the October 10 operation. FIEL, an immigrant rights group working with Parra Hernandez's family, reported that Mendoza-Cervantes' daughter said her father has been dead since 2017. ICE has not responded to that claim.

ICE has asserted that local officials lack the authority to investigate federal officers acting in their duties. The agency released a statement calling the allegations that the vehicle strike was intentional reckless and false. Teare hinted at concerns regarding Morales' background but declined to provide specific details at the news conference.

Morales is charged with a second-degree felony and was not in custody as of Friday. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. He has worked as an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer for just over a year.

This case is one of few where a federal officer has faced criminal charges during the current administration's immigration crackdown. Teare said the Department of Homeland Security has not cooperated with investigators and accused ICE of destroying evidence. He also referenced a July incident where an ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a case where DHS has said the officer fired in self-defense.