A Houston man is recovering from surgery after being struck by a vehicle during an immigration enforcement encounter on Saturday, and Harris County’s top prosecutor says the surveillance video raises serious criminal questions. District Attorney Sean Teare says the footage shows 48-year-old Miguel Parra Hernandez and another person jumping from a white truck and running before a dark SUV pursues and hits him. Parra Hernandez suffered a broken leg that required surgery. Teare told reporters the most obvious potential charge is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, meaning the vehicle itself would be treated as the weapon.
ICE disputes that account. A Houston spokesperson said Parra Hernandez ran in front of an ICE vehicle as officers attempted to apprehend him. Teare also says ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have not cooperated with his office’s investigation, a detail that matters because Houston prosecutors already investigated a fatal ICE shooting in July that killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
For those of us in Ellis County, this is a Houston story with a broader question inside it: when a local district attorney says federal agents won’t answer his questions, who ultimately holds them accountable? That debate is only getting louder across Texas, and we want to hear from you. What should happen when a local prosecutor and a federal agency tell two completely different stories? Sound off in the comments.


