Driver charged in migrant deaths after pickup crash

A Texas man who drove a pickup involved in a deadly head-on crash near a Texas border city following a police chase that left eight migrants dead was named in a criminal complaint, according to a federal complaint filed Wednesday.

The collision happened weeks after one of the deadliest highway crashes involving migrants entering the U.S. without permission and amid rising crossings along the U.S.Mexico border.

Sebastian Tovar, 24, of Austin, has been charged with “transporting illegal aliens resulting in death,” according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden. According to the federal complaint, Tovar was traveling north on U.S. 277 on Monday in a maroon pickup truck near Del Rio, when a trooper attempted to stop him for speeding.

An approximately 50mile pursuit reached speeds of over 100 mph. Tovar collided head-on with another pickup. Eight migrants in Tovar’s pickup died. The driver and passenger of the other pickup remain hospitalized in stable condition, authorities said.

According to the complaint, U.S. Border Patrol agents also encountered a beige pickup truck while directing traffic near the crash site on U.S. 277, After giving them instruction, several occupants jumped out and fled into the brush. Federal authorities said 12 undocumented migrants who fled were apprehended.

Two of the undocumented immigrants arrested are Mexican nationals and said in an interview with authorities that they “illegally crossed into the U.S. near Eagle Pass,” with about 20 migrants.

Tovar could face up to life in federal prison.