A man crashed into a home near Roma on Tuesday and was arrested after Border Patrol initiated a vehicle pursuit after he picked up two women who had crossed the Rio Grande.
Edgar Ivan Chavarria, who was born in 2003, is charged with smuggling of persons illegally present in the U.S.
According to the criminal complaint, a Border Patrol agent camera operator observed a raft crossing the river near Roma and notified agents nearby that two subjects boarded a white, single cab Ford F-150 driving north away from the river.
“An agent responded and observed the Ford F-150 driving north towards his direction and make a sudden right turn towards a residential area,” the complaint said. “As the agent was arriving at the residence, residents waved at the agent and directed him towards the F-150 that had just collided with a house.”
Chavarria, who was wearing a red shirt and had a tattoo that read “HaHaHa” on his neck, attempted to flee the scene but was immediately apprehended by agents.
During an interview, Chavarria told authorities that he was cutting the yard near the river on a property that wasn’t his and claimed he didn’t know the owner either, according to the complaint.
He added that he was there for 30 minutes before he left in the Ford truck, of which he claimed belonged to a friend, with two women he had just met.
Both women admitted they were from Mexico and had crossed together using a raft.
One woman said Chavarria drove off at a high rate of speed until he crashed into a house and exited the truck without giving the women any instructions.
Chavarria is set to stand before Magistrate Judge Juan F Alanis for a detention hearing on Monday.
