A Guatemalan man is facing federal charges for accusations that he repeatedly hit and bit a Border Patrol agent on Sunday morning in Starr County.
Ronaldo Lopez y Lopez, born in 1998, is charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding a federal officer.
A criminal complaint for his arrest said the alleged incident happened at approximately 6:50 a.m. that day when Border Patrol responded to a call regarding people illegally in the country running north near La Grulla.
The agent, who is not identified in the complaint, approached a group of seven people from the south while another agent, who is also not identified, approached the group from the north.
This agent, only identified as J.M., identified himself as Border Patrol and asked the group to stay calm and not run, but the complaint said the group ran in different directions.
The agent who prosecutors said was attacked, identified as C.A.S., chased a group and was able to grab a hold of one person, later identified as Lopez.
The complaint said both agent C.A.S. and Lopez went to the ground and a struggle ensued.
“Lopez broke from (agent) C.A.S. grasp by executing multiple hammer fist strikes on (agent) C.A.S hand and arms,” the complaint stated. “C.A.S. was able to grab hold of Lopez, and Lopez began repeatedly striking C.A.S. and bit him.”
The agent was able to maintain a hold on Lopez until the other agent, J.M., was able to assist and get Lopez handcuffed and arrested, according to the complaint.
“During a post-Miranda interview, Lopez admitted he was being non-compliant with (the agents) and claimed he was actively trying to escape and that he had attempted to bit (agent) C.A.S.,” according to the complaint.
Lopez made a first appearance Tuesday in McAllen federal court, where U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis ordered him temporarily held without bond pending further court proceedings.
