ICE Agent Who Struck Houston Man Put on Leave as Prosecutor Eyes Grand Jury

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent whose vehicle struck and injured a man in northwest Harris County on Saturday, October 10, 2026, has been placed on administrative leave, a senior Department of Homeland Security official told NBC News in a report published on Thursday, October 15, 2026.

The man struck, Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, was taken to a hospital and had surgery for a broken leg. His attorney, Kim Bruno, says he did not know the man ICE says it was seeking, Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, and had never heard of him. ICE says Mendoza-Cervantes is unlawfully present in the United States and has four prior arrests.

What happened on October 10

According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office account reported by FOX 26 Houston, agents were going after a truck with two men inside near Clay Road and Highway 6. The white truck drove the wrong way down Clay Road before it stopped. Two men got out and ran in different directions. One man ran eastbound down Clay Road and escaped. Parra Hernandez was struck by an ICE vehicle in the area.

ICE has said Parra Hernandez ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare has said video collected by investigators makes it look, in his view, as if the strike was intentional. Earlier this week Teare told NBC News that aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, meaning the car used as a weapon, could be an obvious charge if the evidence supports it. ICE has called that allegation reckless and false in its earlier responses reported by NBC News.

Leave, body cameras and a witness in the back seat

The Homeland Security official told NBC News that several ICE officers at the scene were wearing body cameras and that ICE is reviewing video as part of an internal investigation. No decision has been made about sharing that footage with the public or with the district attorney's office, the official said.

Teare told NBC News on Thursday that his office has interviewed a key witness who was handcuffed in the back of the ICE vehicle when it hit Parra Hernandez. Teare said the witness had a front row view of the incident and gave investigators a significant amount of relevant detail. He declined to say what the witness told them. The district attorney's office said the interview took place at the Port Isabel Processing Center in south Texas. Cesar Espinosa, cofounder and executive director of FIEL Houston, identified the witness as Jose Presa Canada and questioned why he is held there and faces quick removal.

FIEL Houston also announced the leave on social media on Thursday, calling it a first step toward accountability. FOX 26 Houston said it had contacted agencies and other parties to confirm that announcement, and NBC News reported the leave separately, citing the senior Homeland Security official.

Grand jury next

Teare said his office is compiling what it has gathered and could present the case to a grand jury in very short order, possibly as soon as next week. His office has also interviewed Parra Hernandez, he said.

Teare says his office wanted data from the ICE vehicle that struck Parra Hernandez, including a crash recorder that can show speed, steering and braking. He says an agent drove the vehicle away from the scene, which may have erased that data. ICE did not answer questions about the recorder in the NBC News report.

No charges had been filed by Thursday evening, October 15, 2026. The agent has not been publicly named in the reports.