Nine Persons injured in High Speed Chase in Carrizo Springs, Texas
By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2016
A high speed chase in Carrizo Springs, Dimmit County, Texas by law enforcement agents of a suspected vehicle transporting undocumented aliens resulted in the injury of nine people on May , 2016. The high speed chase reached up to speeds of 100 miles through heavily trafficked highways and streets in Dimmit County.
Initial reports note that the high speed chase incident began when a Chevrolet Suburban was observed by a Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden outside the city limits of Carrizo Springs, Texas picking up suspected undocumented aliens into the vehicle.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden reported the suspicious activity and Dimmit County Sheriff Department Patrol units responded to the Chevrolet Suburban report.
Dimmit County Sheriff Marion Boyd stated that when the Dimmit County Sheriff Patrol Units encountered the suspicious vehicle, the Chevorolet Suburban was already speeding patrol untis encountered the vehicle reported, it was already speeding at up to 100 miles per hour and his patrol units followed the vehicle.
The high speed chase covered almost seven miles leading into downtown Carrizo Springs, which was busy with traffic, and resulted in the Chevrolet Suburban colliding with a pick-up truck and the truck proceeded to collide with an ambulance.
Two persons in the ambulance were injured in the high-speed collision while two persons in the pick-up truck were injured and five persons in the Chevrolet Suburban were injured believed to be two human traffickers and three undocumented aliens.
Four persons were transported to hospitals in San Antonio and Laredo, Texas for emergency medical treatment.
Five persons were treated at the Dimmit County Hospital for medical injuries sustained in the high-speed chase collision.
One citizen stated that the fleeing Chevrolet Suburban barely missed hitting the gas pumps at a gas station, which if it had done the injuries would have been much higher and possibly fatal.
The driver and a passenger in the Chevrolet Suburban were detained and transferred to the U.S. Border Patrol for further investigation. These two may face several federal charges concerning the high-speed chase, injuries, and for transporting undocumented aliens. The case remains under investigation by the U.S. Border Patrol and Dimmit County Sheriff’s Department.
Law enforcement agencies generally disfavor high-speed chases due to the possibility of innocent citizens getting injured such as in this case.
Carrizo Springs and Dimmit County are very fortunate that there were no fatalities in this high-speed chase and collision.
