Officers recover stolen truck, Illegal immigrants apprehended in the process

The Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department, along with officers from the District Attorney’s office, the Colorado City Police Department and officers with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, cracked a human trafficking case involving illegal immigrants last Thursday in Colorado City.

According to Mitchell County Sheriff Patrick Toombs, an attempted stop by DA officers of a vehicle speeding on Interstate 20 near Colorado City led to the recovery of a stolen vehicle and four illegal immigrants. After the law enforcement officers with the DA’s office had turned on their lights, the vehicle exited into Colorado City. During the stop, Toombs said the driver was removed from the vehicle. With the driver out of the vehicle, one of the other subjects in the back climbed into the driver’s seat and sped away. Officers later recovered the truck, which was reported stolen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, near 17th and Pine.

In addition to recovering the truck, law enforcement officers also took into custody the driver, an El Paso native, and four illegal immigrants, including three men and a woman. Three others evaded arrest, Toombs noted.

Following the arrest, U.S. Border Patrol officers from Midland were summoned to take possession of the illegal immigrants.

Toombs said the stop reflects an increase in trafficking in the area, as well as heightened instances of resistance to law enforcement, especially on Interstate 20.

“We’re seeing more and more of it on the Interstate,” he said. “Now they seem to be running more and won’t stop.”

Toombs also noted that, in some cases, Border Patrol agents are unable to respond to requests to take custody of illegal immigrants due to demands from other areas, including the U.S.-Mexico border. In those cases, officers are instructed to take the illegal immigrant’s information and release them.