On February 25, 2023, at approximately 3:35 a.m., Laredo Border Patrol Sector Communications personnel broadcasted information via radio to Border Patrol agents indicating that a remote camera operator spotted a group of suspected undocumented migrants near Rio Bravo, Texas. Agents heard the notification and responded to the area.
An agent in a marked U.S. Border Patrol vehicle traveling westbound on Espejo Molina Road in Rio Bravo, Texas, responded to the call at approximately 3:40 a.m. The agent reportedly observed a black Chrysler 300 sedan approximately 1.3 miles east of the Rio Grande, near the area the suspected undocumented migrants were previously spotted. The sedan drove eastbound on Espejo Molina Road, and the agent followed the sedan. As the agent followed the sedan, the rear driver’s side door of the vehicle opened, as if someone was going to exit the vehicle as it was still moving.
The Border Patrol agent activated his vehicle’s emergency equipment to conduct a vehicle stop. The sedan slowed but then accelerated, failing to yield to the agent’s emergency equipment. The sedan turned northbound on to Martha Drive for approximately 300 feet, turned off its lights, then turned eastbound on Paseo Del Tiber Road, traveling at a high rate of speed. The agent attempted to catch up to the sedan with his lights and siren activated and notified a Supervisory Border Patrol agent of the failure to yield, but the agent reportedly lost sight of the vehicle.
Approximately .4 miles west of the intersection of Martha Drive and Paseo Del Tiber, the sedan drove over a speedbump. The driver of the vehicle lost control of the sedan, veered to the south side of the road, and collided with a wooden utility pole, a cinder block wall and a tree. The sedan came to rest on its roof in front of a residence.
While driving eastbound on Paseo Del Tiber, the agent arrived at the scene of the collision at approximately 3:42 a.m. and noticed multiple people were ejected from the vehicle. The agent contacted Laredo Sector communications personnel and requested emergency medical services to respond to the incident.
Webb County Sheriff’s Office, Webb County EMS and Angel Care Ambulance Service arrived at the scene. The driver of the sedan, later identified as a male citizen of the United States, and an unidentified occupant of the vehicle were declared deceased on scene. Webb County EMS transported three occupants to the Laredo Medical Center. While at the medical center one of the occupants, later identified as a male citizen of Guatemala, was declared deceased by medical center personnel. Angel Care Ambulance Service transported two of the occupants to Doctors Hospital in Laredo, Texas. After arriving at the hospital, another unidentified occupant of the vehicle was declared deceased by hospital personnel.
Webb County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility special agents processed the scene of the collision.
CBP Office of Professional Responsibility special agents obtained video footage of the collision which revealed that the agent arrived at the scene of the collision approximately 24 seconds after the single vehicle collision occurred.
This incident is under investigation by Webb County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, and CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General was also notified.