ICE Officer Faces Charges in SUV Striking of Mexican Immigrant

WHO:

CBS News US - ICE officer Jason Allen turned himself in after being indicted on an assault charge in Texas.

CNN - The officer is Mario Alberto Morales, 33, an ICE transportation officer and former corrections officer, pastor and military veteran. His attorney, David Lindenmuth, said Morales filed to run for Texas’ 34th Congressional District in 2025 and later dropped out.

CNN - The injured man is Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who has lived in Harris County for more than 30 years. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said Parra Hernandez had no criminal record and no pending deportation order.

NBC News - Morales’s attorney, David Lindenmuth, said the strike was accidental and accused Teare of “character assassination.” ICE called allegations that Morales struck Parra Hernandez intentionally “RECKLESS and FALSE.”

CNN - Parra Hernandez’s attorney, Kim Bruno, said he suffered fractures, nerve damage, surgery, mobility limitations, chronic pain, anxiety and depression. She said, “All he wants is accountability.”

CNN - Teare said Harris County investigators gathered video evidence, interviewed witnesses and developed “serious concerns about the actions of the agent involved.” Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said investigators presented their findings to prosecutors.

WHAT:

CNN - A grand jury indicted Morales on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly struck Parra Hernandez with an ICE vehicle, causing multiple leg fractures.

NBC News - Morales appeared before District Court Judge Matthew Peneguy and was released on a $30,000 bond. Parra Hernandez was recovering in rehabilitation under ICE officers’ oversight.

CNN - Teare said the evidence was “as clear as any I’ve ever prosecuted or investigated.” Lindenmuth called the prosecution “politically motivated” and said Morales committed no crime.

NBC News - Morales’s body-camera footage captured him saying, “You got hit with the car, bro.” Teare described Morales’s attempt to move Parra Hernandez as “careless.”

NBC News - Morales was the first ICE agent indicted in Texas. The article also reported that Minnesota prosecutors charged ICE officer Christian Castro in connection with the January shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis; Castro was indicted federally in September for allegedly making false statements.

WHERE:

CNN - The incident occurred near Houston, Texas, in Harris County.

NBC News - Morales was originally from Brownsville, Texas; he previously worked at the Port Isabel Detention Center and for Cameron County and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

WHEN:

Omitted under the date rules.

WHY:

CNN - ICE said the operation targeted Jose Mendoza-Cervantes. Teare said a man by that name had apparently been dead for nine years; Parra Hernandez’s brother said the other man in the vehicle was not the person ICE sought.

NBC News - The case prompted scrutiny of the administration’s ICE hiring surge and expedited training. DHS had said some recruits failed hiring standards, and the agency said it would retrain thousands of officers who received expedited training.

HOW:

CNN - Teare said Morales pursued Parra Hernandez, then “aggressively steered his vehicle into Parra Hernandez.” Video shown at a news conference included body-camera and business-surveillance footage. Morales’s 911 call included: “I tried to get around him and he hit my car.”

NBC News - Business and bystander footage showed Parra Hernandez leaving a stopped truck and running as Morales’s vehicle turned left and struck him. The Harris County DA’s office said two handcuffed arrestees in Morales’s vehicle were not wearing seat belts.

NBC News - Before joining ICE, Morales worked as a corrections officer, served two years in the Army as a military police officer, and worked for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. A spokeswoman said he resigned in 2018 while on probation for falsifying records of security rounds.

(UPDATED November 3, 2026 02:03 UTC)

An ICE officer was indicted for aggravated assault after allegedly striking a man with his vehicle in Texas. The injured man suffered multiple leg fractures and is recovering in rehabilitation. The officer surrendered, while his attorney and ICE deny intentional wrongdoing.