Harris County DA announces indictment of ICE agent in crash

Okay. Everybody ready? Good morning. This morning, the grand jury of the 174th District Court in Harris County indicted Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer Mario Alberto Morales for the second-degree offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, namely a motor vehicle. Under Texas law, this is a second degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison. I'm gonna briefly detail an overview of what transpired and then Sheriff Gonzalez is gonna get up and speak. This indictment is the result of an intense cooperation between the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the Harris County Sheriff's Office to respond to and investigate a tragic public safety incident. On the morning of Saturday, October 10th, at 16200 Clay Road, Morales struck the victim, Miguel Parra Hernandez, with his vehicle. Mr. Parra Hernandez has lived in Harris County for more than 30 years. He is a Mexican national and unauthorized. He has no criminal record and did not have a deportation order. He did not even have what's commonly called an A number, meaning that there was no pending immigration proceeding against him. Around 7.30 in the morning, Morales was driving a 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee. He initiated a vehicle pursuit of a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Mr. Parra-Hernandez. According to ICE, agents were pursuing a man named Jose Mendoza Cervantes. Mr. Mendoza Cervantes has apparently been dead for nine years. During the vehicle pursuit, Parra-Hernandez and another occupant fled on foot. What happened next shocked our entire community. I'm going to share a side-by-side video. The video shows evidence that's already public from a local bakery that captured Morales striking Parra Hernandez with his motor vehicle. The Harris County Sheriff's Office has obtained Morales' body camera footage. We have synced up the body cam footage with the existing video. I warn you in advance that this is graphic. He's running. On foot. Give me your hand, sir. Ah! I got hit! Ah! Ah! I got hit with a car, bro. Oh, bro. Oh! Oh, here we go. He got that. You run that way, bud. Yeah, like I was coming here. And I hit him with a car. It's like, ooooh. Bring in your car this way. Let's block him. Let's try to put him in the car. As you can clearly see. Morales aggressively steered his vehicle into Para Hernandez. Not only did he hit Mr. Hernandez, he ran over both of his legs, leaving him seriously injured and hospitalized to this day. Morales then called 911 to report that Para Hernandez had hit his car. We're going to play portions of the 911 right now. Saturday, October 10, 2026. 0, 7, 30, and 50, 6 seconds. Harris County, 911, what's your location emergency? Come on. Hello? Hello? Hi, ma'am, how you doing? This is Harris County, 911. What's your location emergency? Can you hear something? The location, let me give it to you. It's going to be... All right. What's the location now? Also, Morales with Immigration. Location is going to be... The Risalga Bakery? Is that where you're at? Uh, yeah, it's going to be 6211 Clay Road. Do you need an ambulance or fire police? Uh, ambulance. Okay, let me get them on the line. Don't hang up. And your first name? It's going to be Mario. Okay, tell me exactly what happened. So we're following this guy, trying to pull him over. He jumped out of a vehicle. Thank I tried to get around him, and he hit my car. So was it vehicle versus pedestrian? Is that correct? you Okay, gotcha. Okay, hang on just a second. Let me put this in real quick. very I do have the medics already headed that way. Are you with him now? Yeah, I'm right here with him. Okay. much. He's fine. He's just completely insane. Okay, and how many are hurt? Just one. Just one. Okay, and how old is he? ¿Cuántos años tiene, señor? ¿Cuántos años tiene? Yeah, he don't want to tell me. Okay, that's fine. Can you tell me approximately how old he is? Yeah, 50, 60. Okay, gotcha. Okay, is he awake? Yeah, he's fine. Is he breathing? Okay. Yes. Okay, hang on. We've just got to ask you these few questions real quick. Hang on just a second. Like I said, we've already got him headed that way, though. Okay, and confirming the vehicle involved is going to be your patrol vehicle. Is that correct? Correct. Gotcha. I'm going to put him in my unit just because we already handcuffed him. And whenever you guys get here, we can address him. Okay, all right. Let me just give you some information real quick. Pyramid XP and stand along to exactly what to do next. Next stop. For safety do so, turn on your flashing hazard lights, which I'm sure you've got your reds and blues going. For everyone's safety, tell all bystanders to roll clear of approaching traffic. Don't move him unless he's in danger. Don't inflict any injuries. From now on, don't let him have anything to eat or drink. It might make him sick or cause further problems. And again, we don't want to move him unless it's absolutely necessary. We just need him to be still, wait for help to arrive. Watch him very closely. If he becomes less awake and vomits, quickly lay him on his side. And if he gets worse in any way, call us back for further instructions. Before serving as district attorney, I led the division in this office that prosecuted vehicular crimes. I've reviewed hundreds of cases, some very similar to this. The evidence that we have in this case is as clear as any that I've ever prosecuted or investigated. Before I turn this over to Sheriff Gonzalez, I want to emphasize the following. Unauthorized individuals who are violent felons should be deported. Second, the Harris County District Attorney's Office has the utmost respect and admiration for law enforcement. We are, after all, a law enforcement agency. Third, all law enforcement officers, local, state and federal, need to be properly vetted, trained and expected to follow generally accepted law enforcement practices. This is particularly true in vehicle pursuits and stops. And fourth, so long as I am district attorney, this office will prosecute any law enforcement officer who violates the law. An ICE badge does not give you free rein to injure, kill, or violate the constitutional rights of anyone. My hope is that this prosecution will do more than just seek justice for the Parra-Hernandez family and Mr. Parra-Hernandez. I hope that it also sends a loud and clear message to every ICE officer who feels that they have a free pass to terrorize our streets. The time to stop is now, and if you don't, you will be held accountable. Thank you all very much, and I'm going to give it to Sheriff Gonzalez. Good morning, everyone. First, I want to thank District Attorney Sean Teer and his team for their partnership and their commitment to public safety. I also want to recognize the men and women of the Harris County Sheriff's Office, particularly Lieutenant Bondurant, Major McConnell, Captain Albers, and our investigators who worked diligently and professionally to investigate this incident. Today, a Harris County grand jury returned an indictment against federal immigration agent Mario Morales in connection with an incident that left a man seriously injured. This is a serious matter and I want to take a few moments to share some of what our investigation revealed. On the morning of Saturday, October 10th, our sheriff's office received a 911 call requesting medical assistance for an injured man near Clay Road and Highway 6. Our deputies responded and discovered that the individual, later identified as Miguel Angel Parra Hernandez, had been struck by a vehicle operated by an ICE agent. Mr. Parra Hernandez suffered significant injuries, including multiple fractures to his right leg. Our Vehicular Crimes Division immediately began investigating the incident, just as they would any other serious crash involving a pedestrian. Our investigators gathered evidence, reviewed available video, interviewed witnesses, and worked closely with prosecutors to establish the circumstances surrounding what happened that morning. Based on the evidence gathered, investigators developed serious concerns about the actions of the agent involved, including the circumstances surrounding the vehicle pursuit and the manner in which Mr. Parra Hernandez was struck. The evidence was presented to the district attorney's office and ultimately to a grand jury, which has now returned an indictment. I want to emphasize something that is very important to me. Law enforcement officers are entrusted with extraordinary authority. With that authority comes an equally extraordinary responsibility to exercise good judgment, protect human life, and uphold the law. That standard applies to all of us. Whether you wear a local, state, or federal badge, the public has every right to expect professionalism, sound judgment, and accountability. And when questions arise about an officer's conduct, those questions deserve a thorough, independent, and impartial investigation. And that's exactly what our Sheriff's Office set out to do. I also want to be clear that this case is about the actions of an individual. It should not federal agent or the many dedicated men and women who serve honorably in law enforcement but no be viewed as badge title or position places anyone beyond scrutiny or accountability as sheriff i take a reflection seriously our responsibility to protect everyone who lives works or travels through Harris County of every that includes holding ourselves and our fellow law enforcement professionals to the highest standards individual. I recognize that this case will generate considerable public interest and strong opinions. But our responsibility is not to be guided by politics or public pressure. Our responsibility is to follow the facts, uphold the law, and do what is right. Today's indictment represents an important step in the judicial process, but it is not a determination of guilt. Mr. Morales is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law, and he is entitled to the same due process protections afforded to everyone. I want to thank our investigators and our partners at the district attorney's office for their professionalism and commitment to this case. And finally, I want to acknowledge Mr. Parra Hernandez and the serious injuries he suffered. Behind every investigation is a human being whose life has been affected, and we should never lose sight of that. Our commitment remains the same to serve our community with integrity, fairness, and accountability. Thank you. And I'll briefly say a few things in Spanish. Pero buenos días a todos. Primero quie ro agradecer al fiscal del distrito Sean Teery, a su equipo por trabajar con nosotros y por su compromiso con la seguri dad pública y la aplicación justa de la ley. y también quiero reconocer el trabajo de nuestros investigadores que están aquí esta mañana quien trabajaron con mucha dedicación y profesionalismo para investigar este incidente. Hoy, un gran jurado del condado Harris presentó cargos formales contra Mario Morales, agente federal de inmigración, por un incidente en el que un hombre resultó gravemente herido. Este es un asunto muy serio y quiero tomar unos minutos para compartir algunos de los resultados de nuestra investigación. La mañana del sábado 10 de octubre, nuestra oficina del Alguacil recibió una llamada a 9-11 para pedir ayuda médica para un hombre herido cerca de la Clay Road y la Carretera 6. Nuestros oficiales llegaron al lugar y encontraron que el hombre, quien después fue identificado como Miguel Ángel Parra Hernández, había sido atropellado por un vehículo conducido por un agente de ICE. El señor Parra Hernández sufrió heridas graves, incluyendo varias fracturas en su pierna derecha. Nuestra División de Delitos Vehiculares comenzó de inmediato a investigar lo ocurrido, tal como lo haría en cualquier otro choque grave entre un vehículo y un peatón. Nuestros investigadores reunieron pruebas, revisaron los videos disponibles, entrevistaron a testigos y trabajaron de cerca con los fiscales para entender lo que pasó esa mañana. Con base en las pruebas reunidas, nuestros investigadores encontraron motivos serios de preocupación sobre las acciones de la gente involucrada, incluyendo las circunstancias de la presunción y la manera en que el señor Parra Hernández fue atropellado. Las pruebas fueron presentadas ante la Fiscalía del Distrito y finalmente ante un gran jurado que ahora ha presentado cargos formales. Quiero destacar algo que es muy importante para mí. A los oficiales de la ley se les da una gran autoridad, pero esa autoridad también trae una gran responsabilidad, tomar buenas decisiones, proteger la vida de las personas y cumplir con la ley. Esa misma regla aplica para todos nosotros, no importa si llevan una placa local, estatal o federal. La comunidad tiene todo el derecho de esperar que los oficiales actúen con profesionalismo, tomen buenas decisiones y respondan por sus acciones. Y cuando surgen dudas sobre la conducta de un oficial, esas dudas merecen una investigación completa, independiente e imparcial. Eso es exactamente lo que nuestra agencia se propuso hacer. También quiero dejar algo muy claro. Este caso trata sobre las acciones de una persona. No debe verse como un reflejo de todos los agentes federales, ni de los muchos hombres y mujeres que hacen su trabajo de manera honesta y con honor en las agencias de orden público. But no title plate makes someone above the law o libre de responder por sus acciones. Como Alguacil, tomo muy seriamente nuestra responsabilidad de proteger a todas las personas que viven, trabajan o pasan por el condado Harris. That also means demanding of ourselves and of us, compañeros de las agencias del orden público, que cumplamos con los más altos estándares. I know that this case will generate a lot of interest and strong opinions, but our responsibility is not to let ourselves be carried away by politics or by public pressure. Nuestra responsabilidad es seguir las pruebas, cumplir con la ley y hacer lo correcto. Los cargos presentados hoy son un paso importante en el proceso judicial, pero no significa que la persona sea culpable. El señor Morales se considera inocente hasta que se demuestre lo contrario en un tribunal. También tiene derecho a las mismas protecciones legales que cualquier otra persona. Quiero agradecer a nuestros investigadores y a nuestros colaboradores de la Fiscalía del Distrito por su... And now we're going to open it up for questions. Bryce. Do you have much background where you know about Mr. Morales, his background, where he's from, what he's doing now? Thank Sure. Mario Common Alberto is A-L-B-E-R-T-O and Morales, M-O-R-A-L-E-S. you We have very A significant amount of information on his background. I'm not going to get into a lot of detail. much. I can confirm that he was one of the surge hires in August of 2025 for ICE. We haven't received any training records. Whether or not he has those, we don't know. But without going into detail, Of his prior work history and the rest of it, I can unequivocally tell you that I've reviewed thousands of job applications and resumes for law enforcement officers from around the state, and I'm not familiar with a single agency that would have hired this person. Based on his past. While this press conference has been going, ICE has told us that this is nothing more than a political stunt by Houston's sanctuary politicians, in their words, and that federal officers can only be investigated by other federal agencies. Do you have a response to that? It's just patently false, but that's kind of par for the course. Sheriff, how soon might he be in your jail? I don't have that information at the moment. We'll work closely with the district attorney and get some guidance on the next steps post the grand jury indictment this morning. It's all unfolding very quickly. So we'll make those arrangements. And I can give a little clarity on that. We've been in contact. He is represented. We've been in contact and we anticipate. Him being in custody relatively soon. I don't know if that's today or not, but relatively soon. Yes, Nicole. His attorney said that this is a rush job. You managed to get this indictment in less than a month from the case. Meanwhile, the Salgado case has been four months and nothing has happened to the fact. Why did you get this case done sooner than Salgado? There are a lot of similarities between the the Salgado investigation. And this case, there are some differences that have allowed us to move more quickly. But I think one of the things that is unquestionably different, and I think in large part to the advocacy of the Salgado sons and the public outcry around that case, these people were wearing body cameras were able to go. In a much more expedited fashion of this investigation, because they were wearing body cameras, and because this agency, the Harris County Sheriff's Department, acted deliberately, intentionally, and the way that it should happen when investigations like this need to happen. And they were there. They were on scene, along with Jarrell Rogers, our Civil Rights Division Chief, that day. We were able to start the investigation immediately. There were a lot of reasons that this case was able to be investigated quicker. But make no mistake, nothing about today changes our laser focus on continuing and concluding the investigation into Mr. Salgado's death as quickly and as thoroughly as we can. Yes, sir. You kind of mentioned. There has been a level of cooperation in this case with the Harris County Sheriff's Office Thank you. that at least initially is different than with the Salgado case. Until we are able to to fully wrap up the investigative part of the Salgado case, I'm not going to be able to to really compare them directly, but in this case we have we have gotten a level of cooperation from from the federal government. Yes, ma'am. No, no. In all honesty, this was not even in the back of my mind that I would be having to investigate multiple instances of federal officers harming our community members. No. This is something that we do as routine when we are investigating law enforcement officers, Thank whether they be local, state, or federal officers. We put the facts and the evidence in front of community members. We explain the law, we show them the evidence, and we have them either return a true bill or a no bill, which is exactly what we did in this case and every other case. you. We saw you at the grand jury for about 40 minutes this morning. Is that how long it took to present the case, or can you say? Well, as you know, the proceedings for a grand jury are secret. I can tell you that this wasn't the first bit or the first communication we've had with the 174th District Court Grand Jury regarding this case. So the term for that grand jury ends today. There is a mechanism where grand juries can be held over to continue the investigation of a case. They are no longer needed for the aggravated assault against Mr. Morales. They are the grand jury, however, that has been investigating. The Salgado case, that is not up to the DA's office to hold over a grand jury. That is something that is up to the grand jury themselves and the district court judge, in this case, Hazel Jones. Whether or not that's going to happen, I can't speak to. But because the term ends today, I'm pretty sure we're either going to know one way or another today. He is still in ICE custody. He has not been transferred up to the Montgomery County Detention Facility. He is in a rehab facility still recovering from his injuries, but he is in ICE custody there, yes. The office independently confirmed that the target of that operation was dead. We have not done anything on that front as of yet. We were truly focused on making sure that this presentation to a grand jury was Fully encompassing all of the facts, but now that we have the grand jury indictment, there are a lot of different avenues we're going to have to continue to go down, and that will be one of them. What about the other occupant in the vehicle who fled? Have you guys found him, talked to him? We do know who he is. I'm not going to specifically talk about who we've interviewed and who we haven't yet, but we are aware of his identity, I'm going to turn it over to He is still here and not in ICE custody. Do you know where the ICE agent is currently? We have been in contact with his attorney. Whether or not he is in Houston, I don't know that yet. I can tell you that, and I understand that this is not an update that anyone really wants to hear, but we are continuing to work. I fully envision the evidence gathering and evaluation portion of of this coming to an end likely before Thanksgiving. Which then would mean the presentation of the grand jury would be forthcoming after that. If, in fact, the 174th grand jury is held over, then we have a time frame that it needs to be presented by. And that's 90 days from effectively today, if that happens. Once an indictment is handed down, short of some actions that we did not take, a warrant for his arrest issues. So there will be a warrant for this individual, Mr. Morales, today. And when you think about it, this is an individual who, if he's not going to turn himself in today, will be driving around with a felony warrant. How soon will it be about to come? Brought to court. So depending on when the individual gets processed through Sheriff Gonzalez's jail, that's going to really dictate. Typically, it would not be more than 24 hours after processing begins that we have a court date. We'll find out today which district court the case lands in, and then there will be some even pre-arrest motions and things like that that need to be filed. Is he with a walker? We're not going to we're not going to offer a walkthrough in this case. Whether or not the judge allows that is completely up to whichever court it lands in. You mentioned that we're between two and five, so we have some questionable background. Is there any more you can kind of tell us about that? Or is this something that we should be concerned about in the future, the amount of people that might have questionable background that are in tax havens? Is there any more you can kind of tell us about that? Or is this something that we should be concerned about in the future, the amount of people Is there any more you can kind of tell us about that or is this something that we should be concerned about in the future, a lot of people that might have questionable backgrounds that are in tax havens? Based on the last four months of investigation, I would, I do have concerns about a number of the individuals that were hired during that surge. And I have significant concerns about the length of time that they're trained and about what that training even entails. And I'm going to leave it at that. Yes, I wanted to mention one thing because I think a question was asked about the person that had had ran from the scene that one of the things that we didn't initially know and we found out soon during the scene investigation that there was actually two other persons that were detained in the in the in the backseat of the vehicle that the agent was driving, which is very concerning. and I know of no Law enforcement agency that that would deem that to be acceptable to the contrary. It's very unsafe. If some other crash could have occurred and with them being handcuffed and shackled inside the vehicle, it would have been a very. Uh, maybe even worse situation, uh, because they were very limited in their movement and in the backseat of the vehicle. So I want to make sure that I also added just to put context in there because it was mentioned about the one person, but there were other two people that we didn't initially know about until, uh, during the scene investigation unfolded. And I think that's a critical thing to point out. Sheriff Gonzalez has been doing this longer than me, but... No officer. Has even one, let alone two prisoners in the back seat of their car, handcuffed without seatbelts on, and would engage in another pursuit. And these weren't all people that were together. They are just driving around our city, grabbing people. That's what's happening. And they are not exercising any normal law enforcement tactics while they're doing it. Yeah, it's what I said at the end of my prepared statement. Just because you have an ICE badge or any badge, if you are in Harris County and you are violating our community members' constitutional rights, there will be repercussions and you will be held accountable. By the law enforcement agencies that are here every day taking care of our citizenry. Do you have any updates on the two that were in the vehicle? ICE has progressively begun deporting a number of the material witnesses to this case, despite our objections, despite our acknowledgement that they are. So we are aware of at least two They have already been deported. One of them, we had to fly down an investigator to Port Isabel hours before they deported him less than a week after this crash. So we're keeping very, very constant tabs on where they are and as they're sadly being shipped out without any interviews and investigation. Thank you. And just to point out, Mr. Parra-Hernandez is not even able to leave the rehab facility, and they are having court dates to try to deport him. He is now the victim of a second-degree felony. So that's what we're dealing with. Yes, sir? Yes, so there are really two avenues. The defendant, because he was employed as a federal agent, has the ability to attempt to remove this case to federal court. We are Prepared to litigate that in federal court because from our readings of the statute and the behavior of that Saturday morning, we believe that he was acting outside of the scope of his federal employment in this case. And so we're going to litigate that. That will likely The other component is that the federal government, the U.S. attorney, could also file charges against Mr. Morales for the deprivation of constitutional rights. Whether or not they're going to do that doesn't matter really to us. You see it all the time where we have state charges filed against someone and federal charges out of the same transaction. Both are able to continue. Based on what you know, is the U.S. attorney here inclined to do that? I do not know. That's a question for them. One of the most insidious things about these tactics and the way that ICE is behaving in our community is the fear. That a large percentage of our population has right now. We've seen calls for service go down regarding intimate partner violence. We've seen aggravated robberies not be reported for fear of deportation. We have seen cases that we already have filed. Aggravated sexual assaults of children, where the outcry witness is too scared to continue to participate in the prosecution. The behavior and the fear that's being instilled in such a big vibrant group of people of Harris County residents is objectively making us all less safe. It is having the 180 degree effect than what their stated reason is. This is, I can tell you from boots on the ground, this is making us all less safe, the way they're behaving. Okay, thank you all so much for coming. Thank you.