Police Absolve Border Agents in Boy’s Death

San Diego police have found no evidence of negligence in the death of a 14-year-old Mexican boy run over by a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle in August, and authorities have no plans to prosecute the agent who was driving, federal and local officials said Monday.

The incident, which occurred just inside U.S. territory in San Diego early in the morning of Aug. 20, sparked considerable controversy--and a call by the Mexican government for a thorough investigation--after an attorney representing the dead boy’s family alleged that the agent had been driving recklessly.

U.S. Border Patrol officials, who characterized the incident as an unfortunate but unavoidable accident, said immediately afterward that an initial inquiry had uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing by the driver, Agent George Brunner, 29, or his partner, Agent Oscar Lomeli, 34.

On Monday, San Diego Police Cmdr. Cal Krosch said the official police investigation found no criminal negligence by the agents. “As far as we’re concerned, it’s a closed matter,� Krosch said.

James W. Brannigan, chief assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego, said U.S. authorities, who reviewed the police investigation because it involved federal officers, did not dispute the police findings.

“The San Diego police concluded this was accidental,� Brannigan said, “and we see no reason to take any further action at this point.�

A spokeswoman for the Mexican consul in San Diego declined comment Monday.

Still to be litigated is a civil claim filed by the family of the dead boy, Luis Eduardo Hernandez, a native of the Mexican state of Jalisco. He and a 15-year-old brother, Angel, were en route to Los Angeles, where their father, Aurelio Hernandez, resides, when the boy was run over at 2:30 a.m. Aug. 20. Luis Eduardo was buried 11 days later in Los Angeles.

The family’s attorney, Michael D. Padilla of San Diego, has maintained that the Border Patrol vehicle, a 1988 Chevrolet Blazer, was driving at excessive speed--up to 50 m.p.h.--when it ran over and killed the boy at a spot just north of the border fence and south of the Tijuana River channel. The boy was one of scores gathered that evening along the channel, which has become the most popular crossing spot for undocumented migrants along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

Seeking Damages

The family is seeking unspecified damages from the U.S. government for wrongful death and for emotional distress inflicted upon Angel Hernandez, who witnessed the death. U.S. authorities have rejected the initial claim. The family plans to file suit shortly in U.S. District Court in San Diego, Padilla said.

The Border Patrol has maintained that the vehicle was traveling at no more than 15 m.p.h. --within agency guidelines--when it struck and ran over the boy. The youth was running when he fell in the path of the vehicle, which was unable to stop, the patrol said.

The death occurred in an area where, each evening, all-terrain enforcement vehicles patrol back and forth along the tattered border fence as hundreds of migrants gather on the Tijuana side and just inside U.S. territory, all waiting for an opportunity to dart north. Witnesses estimate that the vehicles, which churn up clouds of dust along the dirt track, have been seen traveling as fast as 35 m.p.h.

In the past four years, according to a San Diego civil-rights coalition, Border Patrol vehicles have run over and killed at least six migrants in the California-Mexico border region, prompting calls for more safety procedures.