By Karen Gleason
Two United States citizens trying to smuggle 11 immigrants were arrested after the vehicle they were in attempted to flee from law enforcement and crashed near a Del Rio restaurant Wednesday afternoon.
Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said the crash and arrests came after a chase initiated by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers patrolling U.S. Highway 277 south of Del Rio tried to stop a black pickup truck driven by the male U.S. citizen. The female U.S. citizen was a passenger in the truck and was also arrested.
Martinez said the truck turned north onto State Loop 79 from U.S. 277, and then sped to U.S. Highway 90, where it turned west toward Del Rio.
“There was an attempt made to stop the vehicle using spike strips, but it was unsuccessful. The truck ended up crashing through a chain-link fence and hitting a mesquite tree near the Sonic restaurant at the San Felipe Creek,” Martinez told the 830 Times shortly after the incident.
Martinez said law enforcement officers who converged on the crash site also apprehended 11 illegal immigrants being ferried in the pickup truck. The sheriff said some of the immigrants suffered “bumps and bruises” in the crash and were being medically evaluated by Border Patrol agents at the scene.
Martinez said he believed most of the immigrants being smuggled are from Mexico.
“We assisted the DPS in providing traffic control and in searching for some of the individuals who attempted to flee from the scene,” Martinez said, adding everyone in the vehicle was eventually captured and taken into custody.
The sheriff said schools in the area were placed on lock-down for the duration of the incident.
