YUMA, Ariz- Two immigrants died and three others were seriously injured when a car they allegedly were being smuggled in slammed an SUV into a semi-trailer near the Arizona-California border last week.
Border patrol says an agent tried to pull the vehicle over when it fled, colliding with an empty car on interstate 8.
The suspected smuggler 30 year old Lydiana Castro from Calexico, said she “panicked” and hit the accelerator when U.S. Border Patrol agents attempted to pull her over is arrested and charged in connection with the crash that killed two men who died at the scene. One of the men was brain dead, and another paralyzed from the waist down.
The men were identified as Miguel Angel May-Us, Rogelio Castro and Javier Gonzalez.
Castro was arrested after the crash on March 23, near Andrade, California, and charged with illegally transporting migrants. In federal court in El Centro on Tuesday, she elected to forgo a detention hearing and remain in custody.
Border Patrol agent Richard Withers says the incident began when agents spotted the men coming out of the desert and getting into the vehicle.
An agent later tried pulling the vehicle over, but it fled after initially pulling over.
In court Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Martin told U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Lewis that Castro is brain dead and on life support; Sanchez-Gonzalez is paralyzed from the waist down; and May-Us is in and out of consciousness.
A status hearing is scheduled for April 1st.