ICE SUV Hits Houston Worker During Enforcement Operation

Federal immigration agents struck a 48-year-old construction worker with an SUV in Houston on Saturday during an enforcement operation. While local prosecutors investigate the collision as a potential aggravated assault, records show the agents were searching for a man whose family says died nearly a decade ago.

Agents Strike Construction Worker on Clay Road

The enforcement action unfolded shortly after 7 a.m. on Saturday, October 10, 2026, near the intersection of Clay Road and Texas 6 in northwest Houston. Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old construction worker who has lived in the area for 34 years, was on his way to work with another man after getting water at a local gas station, according to his brother.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived in unmarked vehicles to execute an operation. Surveillance footage from a nearby business shows Parra Hernandez and the other man exiting a white pickup truck and running in different directions. An unmarked black SUV, identified by local investigators as a Jeep Cherokee, turned off Clay Road, crossed a median, and entered the parking lot, where it struck Parra Hernandez from behind.

The impact fractured his leg in three places, alongside injuries to his hip and ankle, according to the Houston Chronicle. Parra Hernandez underwent surgery at a Katy-area hospital and faces additional operations, his attorney, Kim Bruno, told the Houston Chronicle. He remains hospitalized in ICE custody.

Officials Issue Conflicting Accounts of the Collision

Federal and local officials offer sharply contrasting narratives of how the collision occurred and who agents were attempting to apprehend.

An ICE spokesperson stated that Parra Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle and was struck. The agency maintained that Parra Hernandez was not the primary target of the stop, though it asserted he was in the country illegally and had no prior criminal record.

In contrast, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said local investigators reviewed video footage that goes above the video that was posted online and concluded the maneuver was deliberate. Teare stated:.

This was an intentional striking and running over of the person by the vehicle, and in that case, that is an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Texas.

Sean Teare, Harris County District Attorney

Adding to the controversy, the Department of Homeland Security identified the intended target of the operation as Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, a man described as unlawfully present with multiple prior DUI and firearm arrests. However, when ICE shared a photo of its target, Jamie Jimenez of Dallas identified the man as her father, Jose Hector Jimenez, and stated he died in 2017 after plunging from a cliff near the southern border while fleeing immigration agents.

Investigators Probe Evidence and Witness Accounts

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is leading the criminal investigation, supported by the District Attorney’s Office. A senior Department of Homeland Security official told NBC News that the ICE officer driving the vehicle has been placed on administrative leave while an internal review proceeds.

Investigators face potential evidence hurdles. District Attorney Teare noted that an agent drove the Jeep Cherokee away from the scene before local authorities could download its onboard crash data recorder, a step he warned may have automatically erased critical data regarding speed and braking.

Meanwhile, immigrant civil rights organization FIEL Houston announced that four new witnesses have come forward, including two men who were handcuffed inside the ICE vehicle during the pursuit. One of those witnesses, José Presa Cañada, was interviewed by Teare before being transferred to the Port Isabel Processing Center, where advocates expressed concern over potential expedited deportation proceedings.

The investigation parallels an ongoing county push into federal enforcement actions following the July 7, 2026, fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an ICE officer in Houston’s Magnolia Park neighborhood, a case that prompted Harris County commissioners to approve $2.5 million for independent district attorney probes.

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