A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer accused of deliberately running over a fleeing Mexican construction worker in Houston appeared in court Monday, November 2, 2026, after a Texas grand jury indicted him on a felony assault charge.
Mario Alberto Morales surrendered to authorities three days after being indicted on a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Harris County District Judge Matthew Peneguy set his bond at $30,000, below the $75,000 prosecutors requested. Morales was released following the hearing.
The charge stems from an October 10 immigration enforcement operation in northwest Houston, where prosecutors say Morales drove his unmarked SUV into Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, as he fled through a parking lot. Parra Hernandez suffered multiple fractures to his right leg and ankle that required surgery. He remains in federal immigration custody while recovering.
Surveillance footage from a nearby business shows two men leaving a white pickup truck and running in different directions as immigration officers approach. Morales pursued Parra Hernandez in a black Jeep Grand Cherokee, crossing a median before turning toward the fleeing man and striking him. His body camera captured the collision and Parra Hernandez crying out as the officer approached him on the ground.
In a recorded 911 call, Morales told a dispatcher he had attempted to drive around Parra Hernandez before the man struck his vehicle. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare disputes that account, saying the recordings show Morales steering toward him.
Two handcuffed immigrants were reportedly inside Morales' SUV without seat belts during the pursuit, according to accounts of the incident. The circumstances of their detention and presence in the vehicle have also drawn scrutiny as investigators examine the operation.
ICE agents had been attempting to locate Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, whom the agency identified as a man with an outstanding deportation order. His daughter subsequently said her father died in 2017, raising questions about the information federal authorities relied on when conducting the operation.
Teare said Parra Hernandez had lived in Harris County for more than 30 years and had no known criminal record or existing deportation order. His family said he was traveling to a construction job when officers began pursuing the pickup truck.
ICE has maintained that the collision occurred while officers were carrying out their duties and described the indictment as politically motivated. Morales' attorney, David Lindenmuth, characterized the incident as an accident and disputed the criminal allegations. Former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has joined the officer's defense team.
Following Monday's hearing, defense attorney Michael Wynne said the legal team expects to seek transfer of the prosecution to federal court, potentially raising a constitutional immunity defense.
Under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, federal officers may be protected from state criminal prosecution for actions authorized by federal law and necessary to carrying out their official duties. Transferring the proceedings to federal court would allow Morales to seek that protection, although the change in venue would not automatically dismiss the charge.
Teare maintains that the evidence supports prosecuting Morales under Texas law. A conviction for second-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon carries a potential prison sentence of two to 20 years.
Morales is scheduled to return to court on December 2 as his attorneys prepare a possible challenge to the state's authority to prosecute him.
