El Paso high school student arrested in smuggling case after migrant falls from overpass
An El Paso high school student was arrested in connection with a human smuggling attempt where a migrant was seriously injured after jumping off a highway overpass last week, officials said.
Austin Villa, 18, of Northeast El Paso, was arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety after a potentially dangerous chase topping 110 mph last Thursday night, Jan. 4, in the Upper Valley, officials said.
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Villa was arrested on felony charges of smuggling a person under 18 years of age and evading arrest in a vehicle, according to Texas DPS and El Paso County Jail records. He is a student at Andress High School, a public defense attorney said.
The migrant suffered a fractured skull, a broken pelvis and a broken elbow after falling about 20 feet to the ground when he jumped from an overpass while attempting to run across Interstate 10 in West El Paso, Assistant District Attorney Adam Loving said during a teleconference bond hearing for Villa on Saturday, Jan. 6.
The injured migrant's name, age, country of origin and current medical status was not immediately available.
During the bond hearing from jail, Villa looked downward while the prosecution described the migrant's injuries.
High-speed smuggler pursuit in the Upper Valley
The case began after law enforcement received information that a load of six to seven undocumented migrants had gotten into the bed of Nissan pickup near the Mexican border and the Pete Domenici Highway in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, Loving said.
Texas state troopers saw a tarp in the bed of the truck after the pickup entered El Paso County in the area of Upper Valley Road, the prosecutor said.
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A trooper attempted to pull over the truck after the driver failed to use a turn signal and for a traffic-line violation at Artcraft Road and South Desert Boulevard, Loving said.
The driver refused to stop and got onto I-10 going over 110 mph as the tarp flew off and officers saw several people attempting to hide in the bed of the truck, Loving said.
The pursuit continued and eventually the truck attempted to make a right on Racetrack Drive toward Doniphan Drive, but missed the turn, went onto the curb and came to a stop.
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The driver and migrants ran off while chased by troopers and Border Patrol agents. Villa unsuccessfully tried to jump over a chain-link fence and was arrested. During the foot chase, one of the migrants ended up jumping off an overpass, officials said.
Border Patrol detained six undocumented migrants who had been in the truck, including an 11-year-old child, the prosecution said. The country of origin and other information on the migrants were not disclosed.
Villa, who is a U.S. citizen, has no criminal history, Loving, the prosecutor, pointed out.
Magistrate Judge Antonio Aun lowered Villa's total bond from $40,000 to $12,500 — $2,500 on the smuggling case and $10,000 for evading arrest in a vehicle. Jail records show Villa was released on a surety bond later that Saturday.
Teens recruited by border smuggling groups
Law enforcement officials have said that border smuggling organizations recruit teens, debt-owing migrants and others as drivers with promises of quick cash for transporting undocumented migrants. The drivers are ordered not to pull over for police.
A driver generally picks up the migrants after they sneak over the border, usually in the Santa Teresa area, and transport them to meet-up spots, where they are transferred to another vehicle and taken to a stash house. The migrants are kept at stash houses until they are taken into the interior of the United States.
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DPS reported that Villa was one of seven suspected human smugglers arrested in El Paso between Dec. 29 and Jan. 4 as part of the state's controversial Operation Lone Star border security efforts.
Residents who suspect a stash house or other smuggling-related criminal activity in their neighborhood may call the state Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-8477 (TIPS). Texas DPS offers rewards of up to $5,000 for information on drug and human trafficking stash houses.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso teen smuggler suspect arrested after migrant falls off overpass
