Border Patrol: Man in West Side canal detained after trying to enter US illegally

By Adriana M. Chávez / El Paso Times
Posted: 07/06/2011 02:40:37 PM MDT

Border Patrol officials said a man found in a West Side canal this morning was attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.

Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said the man, 44, was found in a canal near Monument 1 on the U.S./Mexico border by agents at 6 a.m. today. Agents had seen the man, identified only as a Juárez resident, jump into the canal, which was filled knee-deep with water.

When agents tried to get the man out of the water, he became combative and pulled the agents into the water with him. During the scuffle, the man slipped on a rock, bruising his right abdomen and elbow.

Agents managed to take the man into custody and transported him to a local hospital for evaluation.

Mosier said the man has a prior driving while intoxicated arrest and has been deported in the past. He is being held in a detention facility in Otero County and faces a federal illegal re-entry charge.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_18416819