A Mexican national died after fleeing from immigration enforcement officials and running into oncoming traffic in Florida.
The incident occurred early Tuesday morning in St. Augustine, Florida. Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents responded to a Wawa gas station on State Road 16 early in the morning. According to the reports, four individuals exited a vehicle and ran from the area as a result of the ICE agents and Homeland Security Investigators (HSI). One of the individuals ran into State Road 16 and was hit by a semi-truck. The driver of the truck stopped and tried to save the man, to no avail.
One witness who was pulling into the gas station with her kids described the horrific incident.
“The sounds are constantly replaying in my head of him getting hit. I’ll never look at that road the same,” she told News 4 Jax. “Just know when I saw that entire situation happen, I prayed for that man. I prayed for him. And I do pray that he’s in heaven.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that the man who ran into the road and was hit by the semi-truck was a 28-year-old Mexican national.
“On July 14, DHS law enforcement conducted an operation near St. Johns, Florida,” the spokesperson said. “Florida Highway Patrol and HSI are investigating an incident resulting in the death of a Mexican national. We will provide an update when available.”
It remains unclear what specifically led to the ICE investigation at that particular gas station Tuesday morning. Local Jacksonville station First Coast News spoke to crime and safety expert Mark Baughman, “who previously worked with ICE.”
According to the outlet, he “said the operation appeared to be what is known as an enforcement removal operation, though he cautioned that few details have been released about why agents were attempting to contact the occupants of the vehicle.”
“These could have been four workers waiting to meet somebody to go to a job site, or they could have been four individuals involved in some illegal activity,” Baughman said, emphasizing that there should be “total transparency” surrounding the incident.
He added, “There needs to be reasons why you’re trying to apprehend these people, what violations they committed.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has made clear that in Florida, authorities work with ICE.
Last year, FHP revealed that they arrested 6,200 illegal migrants during its partnership with ICE last year.
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