A day after a sport-utility automobile plowed by way of a bunch of migrants in Brownsville, Texas, killing eight folks, police officers recognized the person behind the wheel as George Alvarez and stated they had been nonetheless making an attempt to find out whether or not the crash was intentional.
Mr. Alvarez has been charged with eight counts of manslaughter, 10 counts of aggravated assault with a lethal weapon and reckless driving, and is remaining behind bars, Chief Felix Sauceda of the Brownsville Police stated on Monday.
Mr. Alvarez was seen on a video being pinned down on the bottom by a bunch of individuals exterior a homeless shelter that had been housing migrants, most them from Venezuela, after he tried to flee the scene of the crash. His grey Vary Rover SUV struck about 20 folks close to a bus cease.
Chief Sauceda stated the police had been investigating stories that Mr. Alvarez had yelled anti-immigration epithets on the group. Extra felony prices might be added, he stated, if investigators decide that the crash was deliberate.
The police stated they acquired stories of the crash at round 8:29 a.m. Sunday and located a ugly scene when officers arrived. At the least six folks had been already lifeless, and 4 extra had been badly injured and twisting in ache. Two of the injured later died, Chief Sauceda stated.
Investigators stated that Mr. Alvarez drove by way of a purple mild and appeared to lose management of his automobile, which flipped on its facet and struck not less than 18 folks, most of them males, Chief Sauceda stated. He referred to as it “a really tragic scene.”
The authorities in Brownsville had been working with the Venezuelan consulate to determine victims and reunite them with family members, he stated.
Mr. Alvarez is a resident of Brownsville who has lengthy been identified to the native authorities, Chief Sauceda stated, including that Mr. Alvarez had a document of quite a few arrests on prices together with driving whereas intoxicated, housebreaking of a automobile, assault and theft amongst others.
The police stated they had been nonetheless making an attempt on Monday to find out whether or not Mr. Alvarez was intoxicated on the time of the crash.
The episode befell exterior Ozanam Middle, a shelter the place a lot of migrants have arrived just lately in anticipation of the top of Title 42, a rule imposed early within the coronavirus pandemic by the Trump administration to ease the expulsion of migrants crossing the border. Title 42, which got here to be seen as a serious obstacle to searching for asylum within the U.S., is scheduled to run out this week.
Many Venezuelans have been leaving their native nation and searching for asylum to flee poverty and authorities oppression.
Mr. Alvarez, who has been chatting with investigators in each English and Spanish, has refused to cooperate with investigators, officers stated. He has given the police a number of totally different names and has not submitted to a breathalyzer take a look at or fingerprinting, they stated.