MCALLEN, Texas — Two Austin men stand accused of driving a tractor trailer with illegal aliens inside, running a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint and leading police in a high speed chase for more than 180 miles before coming to a stop, but not before crashing through a motel. The high speed pursuit is the second of its kind in recent days.
Court records obtained this week by Breitbart Texas show that last week, Lorance Jones Jr. and Larry Williams drove a tractor trailer with seven immigrants hidden inside as they drove to a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint just north of the border city of Laredo where a police dog alerted the agents to something in the vehicle.
An agent told Jones, who was the driver, to pull the tractor trailer to a secondary inspection area, however rather than stop in the inspection area Jones sped up out of the checkpoint and onto Texas Highway 59. Jones led authorities in chase that pushed the tractor trailer to speeds of over 100 miles per hour.
Authorities chased the vehicle to the San Antonio area where Texas State Troopers were able to use road spikes to deflate the tires of the tractor trailer. Near the 144 mile marker near Jourdanton, Texas, the tractor trailer crashed into a motel but managed to continue its attempt to escape through Interstate 35 up through San Antonio’s downtown and eventually coming to a stop near Kyle Texas.
Once authorities arrested the two men and the seven aliens, Jones told agents with Homeland Security Investigations that he was going to be paid $4,200 for moving the group to San Antonio by a man known only as Juan. Jones also said he did not know how much Williams was going to be paid.
Earlier this week, Jones and Williams went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Diana Song Quiroga who formally charged them with human smuggling and set their bond at $75,000 each.
As previously reported by Breitbart Texas, the high speed pursuit from Laredo to San Antonio is the second of its kind in days, just five days before Jones’ pursuit, authorities had a similar chase where a 17-year-old woman led authorities on a 160 mile chase that ended near downtown San Antonio when Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputies were able to stop the vehicle and apprehend most of the illegal aliens.
Follow Ildefonso Ortiz on Twitter @ildefonsoortiz
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