Police cautious before chasing dangerous coyotes
By Sean Gaffney

LA JOYA - Dramatic police chases with illegal immigrant-crammed trucks are common place in this small city.

That pursuit, however, has often ended in dangerous chases with the desperate human smugglers widely known as coyotes.

Again on Tuesday, just east of La Joya, a coyote led Peñitas police on an early morning chase that crossed four cities and ended in a crash after the driver refused to pull over for erratically changing lanes on Expressway 83.

Four Honduran illegal immigrants were taken to the hospital with broken bones and other minor injuries after the vehicle they were traveling in blew out a tire and rolled over, Peñitas police Chief David Harris said. The coyote charged with shepherding the immigrants into the interior of the country fled the scene and got away.

Facing federal prosecution if caught, these coyotes put police in the delicate position of deciding whether to chase after them for failing to pull over on a minor traffic violation.

The choice is never simple and at several Rio Grande Valley police departments, it seems everyone has a different answer.

The rationale behind each decision offers a window into how local law enforcement agencies address the federal issue of illegal immigration.

[b]“LIFE AND PROPERTYâ€