Border agent injured in chase
Rock thrown from Mexico strikes his head
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.29.2008

A U.S. Border Patrol agent was injured when he was struck in the head with a rock thrown by someone from Mexico, an official said.

The agent was flown to a Tucson hospital Sunday night from Douglas.
At 8:45 p.m. east of the Douglas Port of Entry near the international border and Bonita Avenue, the agent spotted five illegal immigrants hopping over the fence, said Rob Daniels, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman. He began chasing them on foot, and they headed back toward Mexico.

During the chase, people on the other side of the fence in Mexico began throwing rocks toward the agent, Daniels said. One struck him in the head, opening a large cut.

Paramedics in Douglas determined he needed to be flown by helicopter to University Medical Center, Daniels said. At the hospital, they used staples to close the 5-inch laceration in the agent's head and released him later in the evening.

He is now OK, Daniels said. Rock throwings occur frequently in areas such as Douglas, Nogales and Naco where large fences mark the international border, he said.

"That's a danger that every single one of our agents that works right along that line faces," Daniels said.

Since Oct. 1, the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector has recorded 201 assaults against agents, a 6 percent increase from the number at the same time the previous year, agency figures show.
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