ICE officer is indicted after striking, injuring immigrant with his vehicle in Houston

A Texas grand jury indicted ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, alleging he drove his vehicle into Miguel Parra Hernandez, who was on foot, earlier this month in Houston.

The indictment of Morales, 33, was returned by a Harris County grand jury Friday morning, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said.

It is the first time an immigration agent is indicted in Texas. ICE enforcement officer Christian Castro was charged in the January shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis in Minnesota.

Teare said the charge is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years.

“The evidence that we have in this case is as clear as any that I’ve ever prosecuted or investigated,” Teare said in a news conference Friday.

Teare played newly released body-camera video that he said belonged to Morales. It was edited to play alongside security camera video from a local business that had been made public soon after the collision. The bodycam video showed the officer yanking his steering wheel to the left and seconds later, a wail can be heard.

The video then shows Parra on the ground with his face on the pavement and the officer…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health