Medina County Sheriff’s Department had a smuggling pursuit last week where the passenger was actually videotaping officers in the middle of the pursuit, the Sheriff said. It was just one of five smuggling pursuits our local law enforcement detailed to us in the past few days.
“She was shooting the finger at us while she videoed, like it’s some kind of game,” Sheriff Brown said. “These smugglers will drive anywhere, through ditches, fences, anything, cause they are in a stolen vehicle any way. In this case, 7-8 people took off running and escaped, but the driver and passenger went to jail.”
“That pursuit went from I-35, made a loop around Hondo, to Hwy 173, to Quihi, to Rio Medina, where we eventually had to use a pit maneuver to end it,” Sheriff Brown added.
There were many other smuggling pursuits in the past few days, and as the frustrated local Sheriffs have said “we are watching their every move, and the smugglers are watching us too,” sometimes with more sophisticated technology than ours.
Frio Pursuit ends in rollover
Another pursuit that began in Frio County this past Monday ended in a rollover near I-35 and Chaparral Ford (pictured). One person was airlifted from this incident. There were around 10 people in the vehicle.
Homeless man intervenes, helps catch smuggler
In another pursuit in the past few days, the chase went from I-35 in Medina County all the way to San Antonio, where a homeless man helped stop the smuggler.
“We chased the smuggler all the way to San Antonio, and he pulled up behind a Lowe’s store and took off running. A homeless man saw the man running and fought him until my deputy caught up and deployed a device similar to pepper spray. We also detained seven others.”
Thanks to the hard work at the Medina County District Attorney’s office, “These drivers in smuggling operations are getting some prison time.”
Smuggler faces 5 Felony Charges after dangerous incident that sent 3 to hospital
A suspect who is charged with Smuggling of Persons: Severe Bodily Injury or Death, was picked up on April 13 on 5 Felony warrants after a dangerous incident that happened this past February 23 between Devine and Castroville.
According to the Medina County Sheriff’s department, it all started with a pursuit out of Uvalde County that was picked up in Medina County and continued to US 90 and FM 1343. At the top of the hill the driver ended up crashing and colliding with a civilian’s vehicle and a Castroville PD officer’s vehicle, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Three people were transported to the hospital for injuries in this accident including the driver of the civilian vehicle, the suspect smuggler driver, as well as one of the undocumented immigrant passengers.
The suspect was recently released from the hospital and is now in custody of Medina County, where he faces charges of possession of marijuana, unauthorized use of vehicle, evading arrest, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault against a public servant, and smuggling of persons: severe bodily injury or death.
No information was available on the medical status of the other two people who were injured in the crash.
