Homeland Security Investigations on Sunday charged a man in connection to a single-vehicle crash that killed two people following a Border Patrol chase near Edinburg on Friday night.
Daniel Olivan Vidal, a Mexican citizen born in 1998, is charged with transporting people who are in the country illegally and conspiracy to do the same.
The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office said previously that Border Patrol was attempting to stop a vehicle east of U.S. 281 and Farm to Market Road 490 when that vehicle lost control and rolled over.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which is investigating the crash, said it happened at around 7:58 p.m. about 7 miles east of Edinburg and involved a 2002 GMC Sierra that was occupied by seven people. The complaint against Olivan, however, said the vehicle had eight people in it.
The crash killed the driver who DPS identified as 50-year-old Harlingen resident Ramon Garcia and also resulted in the death of an unidentified woman who “was ejected and pinned under the GMC.”
DPS has not yet identified the woman pending notification of next of kin.
The complaint against Olivan said the chase, which reached speeds of more than 100 mph, began when a Border Patrol unit pulled alongside the GMC and believed the front passenger was acting suspicious and that the vehicle might be involved in smuggling so the agent initiated a traffic stop.
The driver fled and DPS took over the pursuit that lasted about 11 minutes as Garcia drove through side roads and neighborhoods in north Hidalgo County.
At the crash scene, DPS and Border Patrol determined that eight people had been in the vehicle at the time of the crash and that six of those people were in the country illegally.
Aside from Garza and the woman who died, the complaint said that the remaining people in the vehicle were transported by air and ground ambulances to the hospital for injuries that ranged from minor to severe.
On Saturday, HSI special agents interviewed three of the surviving occupants and learned that a group of five people in the country illegally had been delivered by a different car to a residence near Alamo where Garza picked them up, according to the complaint.
“A female … reported that when they arrived at this pick-up location, a male subject who was not in their group and who was not with them at their previous house location, later identified as Daniel Olivan Vidal, entered the truck with the (women) in Alamo,” the complaint stated.
Another person in the truck, who was an associate of Garza, told special agents that Olivan was freely walking around the pick-up area and was talking on a cellphone before greeting Garza, as if they knew each other, according to the complaint.
“Later, after the crash, she overheard Olivan Vidal taking charge of the (people) and giving them instructions to try and safely exit the truck,” the complaint stated.
During an interview with Olivan, the complaint said he told special agents that his roommate was supposed to be working as a guide to help smuggle the people through the brush and around the Falfurrias checkpoint, but that he instead volunteered to be the guide because his friend was sick.
“Olivan Vidal stated that he was to be a lookout ahead of the group to check for (Border Patrol) while another guide would stay closer to the group,” the complaint stated. “Olivan Vidal said that in lieu of monetary payment, he requested compensation for his own smuggling fees and asked to be transported to Houston, Texas in return for being the brush guide.”
He also admitted that the group of people involved in the crash had been dropped off in front of his home near Alamo, according to the complaint.
He was scheduled to make a first appearance Monday morning in McAllen federal court in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis.
2 dead, multiple injuries in crash following Border Patrol chase
