A human smuggler attempting to avoid arrest fled from police and rolled an overloaded pickup truck killing two migrants and injuring 12 others. The crash took place in Brooks County, Texas, approximately 80 miles inland from the Texas-Mexico border.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Christopher Olivarez tweeted photos from a rollover crash that resulted from a human smuggler evading apprehension by police.
BROOKS CO – Another tragic fatal human smuggling attempt. A human smuggler was evading from police when the driver lost control & rolled over. 14 illegal immigrants from MX & GT were inside the vehicle resulting in 2 killed & 12 injured – driver fled. @TxDPS is investigating. pic.twitter.com/53SDZGcEo3
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) October 16, 2022
Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez told Breitbart Texas that two vehicles, an Ford F-150 pickup and an Excursion SUV past a deputy parked on the side FM 755. The deputy observed the two vehicles driving at a high rate of speed. The deputy turned around to go after the vehicles but they were too far ahead of him to engage.
The drivers of the two vehicles lost control in an area known as “dead man’s curve,” Martinez explained. The pickup truck rolled and struck a gas pipeline. The Excursion ran head-on into a tree.
The rollover crash left two migrants dead and 12 others injured. One migrant died at the scene while the other died after being transported to Christus Spohn Hospital in nearby Kingsville, Texas. The driver reportedly left the scene of the crash.
Emergency crews transported the 12 injured migrants to three separate hospitals in Kingsville, Alice, and Edinburg.
Migrants in the vehicles said there could have been as many as 25 migrants in the two smuggling vehicles. The following day, more migrants walked out of the brush and had to be transported to area hospitals.
Martinez said the truck was registered in Houston and was not reported stolen. The sheriff was not able to release any additional information about the vehicles at this time.
The nationalities, ages, and genders of the deceased migrants is not known at this time. Lt. Olivarez told Breitbart Texas they have no leads on the driver who abandoned the dead and injured migrants. DPS troopers are continuing the investigation.
Sheriff Martinez told Breitbart that these kinds of crashes are not uncommon in his county which is not even located along the Texas border with Mexico. These crashes frequently lead to deaths, injuries, and the destruction of private property.
Earlier this year, a fleeing alleged human smuggler crashed into a tractor-trailer while attempting to evade arrest by a deputy, Breitbart Texas reported. That crash resulted in injury to the driver and a migrant. Six other migrants managed to avoid injury, Martinez stated.
Nearly a year earlier, a human smuggler crashed a van into a light pole while attempting to turn too quickly in an overloaded vehicle. Ten people died in the crash and 20 others were injured, Breitbart Texas reported.
So far this year, more than 80 migrants have been found dead in Brooks County, according to reports provided to Breitbart by Sheriff Martinez’s office.
The sheriff said the fatal crash is being investigated by Texas DPS troopers. The crimes related to human smuggling resulting in the deaths and injuries of migrants is being investigated by his office and ICE Homeland Security Investigations.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point?Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with additional information from Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.