Illegal hit by Border Patrol agent files suit against U.S.
September 2nd, 2008 @ 9:40am
by Associated Press

An illegal immigrant who was struck and severely injured by a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle that also hit and killed his daughter is suing the government.

Lawyers for Juan Cruz Torralva accuse Border Patrol agent Gregorio Garcia of driving recklessly on the night of March 5, 2006, when he ran over Cruz and his 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes Cruz Morales, in the desert near Dateland, Ariz.

Cruz and his daughter were on the final leg of a three-day trek across the border when they were hit. According to the suit filed last month in U.S. District Court in Tucson, Garcia was driving across the desert after another group of illegal immigrants at such a high rate of speed that he could not control his pickup or avoid hitting Cruz and his daughter.

The patrol has said previously that Garcia never saw the father and daughter because they were hidden behind a bush that was in the path of the vehicle.

Lourdes died at the scene. Cruz was briefly held by authorities on a child endangerment charge after he was released from a hospital, but Yuma County prosecutors declined to file formal charges.

``There are collateral damages to Mr. Cruz Torralva for which he is suing,'' said the family's attorney, Candy Camarena of Yuma. ``He was left incapacitated for life. He returned to Oaxaca, where he is from. He is a peaceful, honest, working man who lost his daughter.''

Spokesmen for the Border Patrol's Yuma Sector headquarters declined to comment on the lawsuit. Jaime Castillo, spokesman for the Border Patrol in Washington, D.C., said he had no information about the lawsuit and could not comment.

Named with the patrol and Garcia as defendants are the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages for Cruz for crippling injuries and for the death of his daughter.

``The fact that he didn't follow the legal process for immigrating to the country is no justification for taking the life of his daughter and leaving him incapacitated for life,'' Camarena said.


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