Texas Grand Jury Indicts ICE Officer Over Houston Collision With Man on Foot

A Harris County grand jury on Friday indicted Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Mario Alberto Morales on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, accusing him of driving his vehicle into a man on foot in Houston on Oct. 10, according to NBC News, CBS News and ABC News. Prosecutors and ICE give sharply different accounts of what happened.

The charge is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison, District Attorney Sean Teare said. NBC News reported it is the first time an immigration agent has been indicted in Texas.

What prosecutors say

Teare said Morales, 33, hit Miguel Parra Hernandez with an SUV while chasing him and another person who had fled a vehicle on foot. At a news conference, Teare played body-camera video along with business security footage, which he said shows Morales steering aggressively toward Parra Hernandez. Teare said Morales ran over both of the man's legs.

Parra Hernandez suffered a broken leg, along with hip and ankle injuries, according to his family and representatives, NBC News reported. Teare said he remains at a rehabilitation facility in ICE custody. Teare described the evidence as among the clearest he has prosecuted or investigated.

Teare also noted that ICE has said agents were pursuing a man named Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, who he said has apparently been dead for nine years. He said ICE has already deported at least two material witnesses over his objections, and that Parra Hernandez, a Mexican national with no criminal record and no deportation order at the time, is missing court dates because he cannot leave the rehab facility. Parra Hernandez's attorney said he has lived in the United States for 34 years.

What ICE and the officer's attorney say

ICE called the indictment "a political stunt" by Houston sanctuary politicians and said only federal agencies can investigate federal officers acting in the course of their duties. Teare rejected that, saying it is false that local authorities cannot investigate. In an earlier statement, ICE said Parra Hernandez ran in front of its vehicle and was struck, and it called allegations of an intentional strike reckless and false. DHS has said he was in the country without legal permission.

Morales' attorney, David A. Lindenmuth, told NBC News he had not seen the indictment but said the case is "a crime created out of thin air." He said Morales was reacting to an oncoming truck and had to either hit it head-on or swerve, and said Morales did not knowingly or intentionally strike anyone. In a 911 call played at the news conference, Morales told a dispatcher the man hit his car.

Lindenmuth also pushed back on Teare's criticism of Morales' hiring. Teare said Morales was hired by ICE in August 2025 and that he knows of no agency that would have hired him. Lindenmuth said Morales spent two years in the military as a military police officer and paratrooper, worked alongside immigration officers and has no known history of trouble or excessive force. ICE has said Morales was placed on administrative leave after the collision.

What this means for the case and the wider dispute

The indictment puts a local prosecutor and a federal agency in open conflict over who has the authority to investigate federal officers. Teare said his office will prosecute any officer who violates the law while expressing respect for law enforcement.

Two people arrested in a separate operation were in the ICE vehicle when it struck Parra Hernandez. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said they were handcuffed and shackled, which he said no law enforcement agency would deem acceptable. Teare said one of them was interviewed near the U.S.-Mexico border and the other was detained immediately.

What happens next

Teare said a warrant for Morales' arrest would be issued Friday and that he expected Morales to be taken into custody relatively soon, though possibly not that day. Prosecutors have been in contact with his attorney.

Around Prague, based on reporting by NBC News, CBS News, ABC News