Deadly Human-Smuggling Crash, Patrol Car Theft by Mexican Teen Exposes Border Chaos in South Texas

A 17‑year‑old Mexican national triggered a massive law‑enforcement scramble in Laredo, Texas, on Thursday, leaving two suspected illegal aliens dead and stealing two vehicles, including a marked Texas Highway Patrol unit. Police eventually captured the alleged human smuggler by pulling him from the Rio Grande during a final attempt to escape into Mexico

A Mexican teen is in custody after an hours-long ordeal to secure his capture after a daring escape attempt in Laredo. The incident began early Thursday morning after law enforcement officers attempted to stop a suspicious vehicle just south of the city. The incident evolved into a vehicle pursuit, the death of two suspected illegal aliens, an escape attempt by the suspect, two vehicle thefts, and an officer-involved shooting before the day’s end.

According to a law enforcement source, 17-year-old Saul Garcia-Rodriguez, triggered a day‑long law‑enforcement scramble in Laredo on Thursday, leaving two suspected illegal aliens dead and stealing two vehicles — including a marked Texas Highway Patrol unit — before being pulled from the Rio Grande during a final attempt to escape into Mexico is believed to have been the driver of the suspicious white Toyota sport utility vehicle first encountered by authorities on Mines Road just south of Laredo. After eluding authorities briefly, a Texas Highway Patrol trooper observed the vehicle on Interstate 35, and it later fled after the driver refused to stop for the trooper.

The vehicle pursuit ended after the vehicle allegedly driven by Garcia-Rodriguez crashed into a utility pole on the 4700 block of San Bernardo Avenue, according to the source. Six suspected illegal aliens were in the vehicle with the suspected human smuggler at the time of the accident. Two suspected male illegal aliens died upon impact. None of the occupants was wearing a seatbelt, according to authorities.

According to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation into the deadly smuggling scheme, the suspected driver was taken to a local hospital for examination after the accident. Later in the morning, after his release, Garcia-Rodriguez was placed in handcuffs to be transported to a law enforcement facility in Laredo by a Texas DPS Highway Patrol Trooper.

The source told Breitbart Texas that the suspect removed his handcuffs from the back of his body to the front and moved into the driver’s seat of the marked highway patrol vehicle after the trooper stepped out of the vehicle briefly. The suspect managed to depart the scene with the marked law enforcement vehicle with a service firearm inside.

Later in the afternoon, the Texas Highway Patrol vehicle would be found after local law enforcement officers were notified that a person in handcuffs had been spotted near Lake Casa Blanca. According to the source, the vehicle sustained damage and was abandoned by the suspected human-smuggling fugitive.

The Mexican teen was encountered by Laredo Police officers talking to a work crew performing surveying activities just south of the city. As the group of local law enforcement officers approached Garcia-Rodriguez, he quickly jumped into the driver’s seat of the surveyor’s work vehicle, a white pick-up truck, and attempted to flee the scene.

In a video reviewed by Breitbart Texas, at least one Laredo police officer fired several shots at the fugitive as he attempted to leave the scene, but those rounds failed to hit the suspect. The teen led federal, state, and local law enforcement officers on a lengthy pursuit that would end on Thursday afternoon when Garcia-Rodriguez abandoned the vehicle and attempted to cross the Rio Grande to escape into Mexico.

A Border Patrol airboat managed to keep him from reaching Mexico, and the suspect was ultimately pulled out of the water and re-arrested. According to the source, the smuggling incident, pursuits, and vehicle thefts are currently being investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations team (HSI) in Laredo.

Despite the success of the Trump administration’s border policies, illegal alien gotaways continue to be found after they cross the border, particularly in the Laredo sector. Dangerous law-enforcement pursuits and mounted-patrol searches on interior ranches often lead to the capture of these gotaways, as Breitbart continues to report. The Laredo Border Patrol Sector remains one of the largest areas without effective border barriers.

According to the source, the suspect likely faces prosecution as an adult under strict Texas laws against the smuggling of people. Under the Texas Smuggling of Persons Law, a person can be charged with a first-degree felony if a smuggled individual suffers serious bodily injury or death. In Texas, 17-year-old defendants are automatically charged as adults in the criminal justice system, allowing public identification and the use of his photographs.

Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol.  Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.