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  4. Summary of Incident: Man dies after being struck by a motorist on Interstate 19

Summary of Incident: Man dies after being struck by a motorist on Interstate 19

Release Date
Thu, 01/16/2025

This notification is being issued to the public pursuant to the CBP policy regarding Notification and Review Procedures for Certain Deaths and Deaths in Custody and the Department of Homeland Security FY 2021 Appropriation (H. Rept. 116-458) reporting requirements related to CBP-involved deaths.

On July 4, 2024, at approximately 10:55 p.m., a Border Patrol Agent (BPA) from the Nogales Station in Nogales, Arizona, operating a remote video surveillance system observed two men suspected of being undocumented noncitizens near the frontage road that parallels the southbound side of Interstate 19, approximately 5.6 miles north of the Nogales Port of Entry. The BPA monitoring the surveillance system alerted other Border Patrol personnel working in the area, via radio, who responded to the location. At approximately 11:00 p.m., two BPAs approached with their vehicle’s emergency lights inactivated and saw two individuals walking southbound along the highway on the Interstate 19 side of the barbed wire fence which runs along a ditch separating the interstate from the frontage road. The BPAs stopped and exited their vehicle. One of the Agents reported hearing a loud sound as he exited the vehicle and saw a man running south along the highway. The Agent ran south along the frontage road paralleling the man he believed to be fleeing the area, until the man stopped. As the BPA approached, he saw the man pulling what appeared to be a person out of the southbound lanes and onto the shoulder of the highway. As the Agent got closer, it became apparent that one of the men was struck by a vehicle on the highway.

At approximately 11:04 p.m., the BPAs radioed for assistance from emergency medical services and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office (SCCSO). One BPA assessed the condition of the man who had been struck and noted that he suffered a severe injury to his head. The Agent assisted the other man away from the roadway to a safe area, where a second BPA handcuffed the man and secured him in a Border Patrol vehicle. The first BPA then returned to the roadway, where he reassessed the injured man and found that he had suffered severe head injuries and was not breathing. Other responding Agents located the civilian vehicle that struck the man, which had stopped farther south along the roadway, and directed SCCSO officers to the vehicle when they arrived. At approximately 11:09 p.m., SCCSO arrived and assumed control of the accident scene. At approximately 11:19 p.m., emergency medical technicians arrived, assessed the man’s injuries, and declared the man deceased.

The next morning, July 5, at approximately 12:04 a.m., troopers from the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrived and took control of the scene and the decedent’s remains. According to the DPS report, troopers did not find any identification in the decedent’s clothing or possessions.

Approximately at 1:01 a.m., CBP Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) Special Agents arrived on scene and interviewed the man who had traveled with the decedent. The man stated that he and the decedent saw the Border Patrol vehicles coming and began crossing the roadway to elude the agents. The man said that the decedent ran when the Border Patrol vehicle stopped, and a vehicle traveling on the highway struck him. The man stated he met the decedent while crossing the border to enter the United States, and they started to travel together at that time. The man could not provide any information concerning the decedent’s identity other than a nickname and that he was Mexican.

The Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner took custody of the decedent’s remains at 3:30 a.m.

An OPR review of the video surveillance system footage which captured the incident, indicates the men were lying down in the grass next to Interstate 19 and jumped up and ran as the Border Patrol vehicle approached on the adjacent roadway. Before the BPAs exited the vehicle, the decedent ran into the traffic lane and a vehicle struck him. The second man then ran toward the area where the decedent landed after being struck.

On July 9, 2024, the medical examiner conducted an autopsy of the decedent. An official autopsy report is pending. OPR is reviewing the incident. OPR, Arizona DPS, and the Border Patrol are coordinating efforts to identify the decedent.

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General has been notified.

Last Modified: Jan 27, 2025