Border Patrol agent's vehicle stolen while helping at El Paso highway accident scene

A U.S. Border Patrol agent's personal vehicle was stolen when he stopped to help at the scene of highway accident in El Paso's Lower Valley, police said.

The agent was driving when he saw a traffic collision and stopped to render aid Thursday afternoon on the eastbound lanes of the César Chávez Border Highway near Padres Drive in the Ysleta area, police said.

Shortly after 12:30 p.m., as the agent was assisting at the crash scene, a woman involved in the collision jumped into his truck and drove away with it, police said.

A firearm belonging to the agent was inside his truck as it fled down the highway. It is unknown if the agent was in uniform or street clothes during the theft.

The stolen truck was found later that day abandoned near the Vista Quality Market on Alameda Avenue next to Moon Road in Socorro, an El Paso police spokesman said. The firearm was recovered inside the vehicle.

The Auto Theft Task Force is investigating the incident. There had been no arrests as of Monday.

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Daniel Borunda may be reached at 915-546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Border Patrol agent's vehicle stolen at El Paso highway accident scene