EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A 17-year-old male is facing human smuggling charges after fleeing from law enforcement in a vehicle and then on foot, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
At about 4:20 p.m. on Sunday, July 14, DPS troopers, working Operation Lone Star alongside DPS special agents, saw an SUV fail to stop at a stop sign near Meadowlark Drive and Camino Real Avenue near the El Paso County Country Club, according to DPS.
A trooper tried to pull the vehicle over but the driver allegedly fled.
Another trooper used spike strips to disable the SUV’s tires near Doniphan and Mesa, DPS said.
The driver then tried to avoid the “stop sticks,” lost control and crashed into a center-lane traffic light pole and a van, according to DPS.
The driver of the van sustained minor injuries, according to DPS.
The driver of the SUV then fled the scene on foot, DPS said. There were seven other occupants in the vehicle who were identified as migrants and were turned over to Border Patrol.
An ambulance responded to the scene, and anyone who was injured was treated on scene, DPS said. DPS did not say how many other people besides the driver of the van that was hit were injured.
The SUV’s driver, a 17-year-old male from El Paso, was later apprehended and charged with human smuggling and evading a motor vehicle, DPS said.
He was then booked into the El Paso County Jail.
Also on Sunday, one person was injured in a rollover crash at Emory and Sunset in a separate incident after another apparent pursuit with law enforcement. We are working to get more information on that incident.
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