ICE pursuit in Houston that broke a man's leg targeted a suspect who died years ago, family says

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal officer slammed a vehicle into a Houston construction worker and broke his leg while pursuing a man who apparently died years ago, his family said Friday, further calling into question the account given by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The worker, 48-year-old Miguel Parra Hernandez of Mexico, remains hospitalized with multiple leg fractures and needs reconstructive ankle surgery, according to FIEL, a Houston-based immigration advocacy group. At a news conference Friday, the group said the alleged suspect's family had shared documentation proving his death.

After the episode Saturday, ICE said in a statement that officers had observed a suspect they were targeting, identified as Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, enter a vehicle with Parra Hernandez.

But on Friday, Harris County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Rafael Lemaitre told The Associated Press that Mendoza-Cervantes was not in that vehicle.

ICE did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

“ICE is lying,” Cesar Espinosa, FIEL’s executive director, said. “Either somebody is not telling the truth or all of a sudden these two ICE agents have developed a sixth sense and are able to see dead people.”

ICE released a photo of a man it identified as Mendoza-Cervantes. But he is actually Jose Hector Jimenez, who died years ago while being pursued by federal immigration authorities as he was trying to reenter the U.S., according to FIEL.

The man's daughter provided documents confirming his death, which have been turned over to the district attorney, FIEL said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to a request for comment.

Jimenez’s daughter, Jamie Jimenez, did not respond to requests for comment from the AP. Her husband, Andres Rendon, confirmed to the AP that Jimenez was his wife’s deceased father.

Criminal charges against the ICE officer who drove the vehicle are being considered by the Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, who has said surveillance footage contradicts ICE’s claim that Parra Hernandez stepped in front of the vehicle.

The video shows a black SUV speeding over a median and driving toward a man who is running away. The video does not show the car hitting him — that view is blocked by another vehicle — but it shows the SUV inches from the fleeing man. The video then shows him on the ground.

Parra Hernandez's attorney, Kim Bruno, told reporters that her client is suffering from depression in federal custody, especially after learning that he was not the target of the operation.

“This never should have happened in the first place,” Bruno said.

His brother, Roberto Parra, said they would work construction all day together and he just wants his brother treated with humanity. He said Parra Hernandez has a family to support, and his only crime was coming to a country out of necessity.

FIEL is seeking Parra Hernandez's release before he is moved from a hospital to a federal detention center.

Nidia Delfín, the sister of Luis Enrique Delfín, who was detained in the ICE vehicle that hit Parra Hernandez, called for her brother's release from federal custody so he could serve as a witness.

“He’s still very concerned, still very afraid,” she said. “He's not the same guy that was out last week.”

Omar, who says he was riding in the truck with Miguel Parra-Hernandez during an Oct. 10 Immigration and Customs Enforcement action, attends a news conference at FIEL headquarters in Houston on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (Raquel Natalicchio /Houston Chronicle via AP)

Attorney Kim Bruno is photographed during a news conference at FIEL headquarters in Houston on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, as FIEL members, relatives of Miguel Parra and witnesses dispute Immigration and Customs Enforcement's account of the Oct. 10 enforcement action. (Raquel Natalicchio /Houston Chronicle via AP)

Roberto Parra, brother of Miguel Parra, speaks during a news conference at FIEL headquarters in Houston on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, as FIEL members, relatives and witnesses dispute Immigration and Customs Enforcement's account of the Oct. 10 enforcement action. (Raquel Natalicchio /Houston Chronicle via AP)

Cesar Espinosa of FIEL speaks during a news conference at FIEL headquarters in Houston on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, disputing Immigration and Customs Enforcement's account of the Oct. 10 enforcement action that left Miguel Parra with a broken leg. (Raquel Natalicchio /Houston Chronicle via AP)

CHICAGO (AP) — Tesla has unveiled its new Roadster sports car, which can thrust itself in the air, among other engineering bells and whistles. But drivers shouldn't expect to take it for a spin anytime soon.

Elon Musk's electric car company rolled out its second-generation Roadster at a Thursday event, showing off a set of cold gas thrusters and a “multi-mode” suction system that can fling the car in the air for short spurts and spin the vehicle mid-flight.

“Turns out the future does have flying cars,” Musk, Tesla's CEO, wrote on his social media platform X shortly after.

That future could be a ways off, however, given the regulatory hurdles for flying vehicles and the tangle of state rules that still need to be met.

“I’m not sure every state is going to allow a driver in the middle of traffic to suddenly elevate himself and fly," said David Vladeck, a Georgetown Law professor and former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “There is going to be a long process to let anything like that on a road.”

Thursday's event was hosted at the Texas rocket testing and development center for SpaceX — Musk's publicly-traded rocket company — and Tesla's executives noted that they “borrowed” some SpaceX technology to get the new Roadster in the air. Beyond quick jumps and flips, Tesla also said the car can accelerate from zero to 60 miles (96.6 km) an hour in less than a second.

This week's launch arrived after years of delays and anticipation around the new Roadster — and Tesla shares climbed in morning trading on Friday before falling amid a sell-off in companies tied to artificial intelligence.

The wait isn't completely over. Musk said production for consumers won't begin until 2028. Tesla also didn't immediately set a price tag on its latest EV.

Tesla was taking reservations for Roadster “rocket” car purchases on its website Friday morning, though the fine print said there was no guarantee when the vehicle would be delivered — or whether it would be delivered at all.

Bryant Walker Smith, former vice chair of a Department of Transportation advisory group on innovation, was unimpressed — though he did note Musk's ability to keep Tesla's stock high.

“This was a demonstration of a one-off car using a technology around for many years and will not be coming to public roads in 2028," said Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina. “Tesla pretty uniquely has been able to sell itself on a future that is an order of magnitude greater than reality.”

Musk has repeatedly said that the future of driving will be autonomous — and Austin-based Tesla has focused much of its business on building out self-driving features for its vehicles and, more recently, launching its own (still limited) robotaxi business.

But the company maintains that the Roadster will be made to have humans behind the wheel, calling the EV the “best of the last human-driven cars.”

Thursday's demo was technically autonomous “to make sure we don’t kill anyone,” Musk noted. But long-term, he said, the new Roadster will be “the only manually driven car that Tesla makes.”

“This is not necessarily a safety-optimized car,” Musk later added, met by laughter from the audience. But “it takes the fun meter to 11 out of 10.”

Tesla's first Roadster was launched back in 2008. And in 2018, Musk went as far as placing one on a rocket — with a mannequin dubbed “Starman” in the driver's seat — and launching it into space.

Again, the second-generation Roadster isn't immediately hitting the market. And whether the ambitious new vehicle boosts the company's bottom line remains to be seen.

In second-quarter earnings reported over the summer, Tesla's profits fell as the company spent more on research and development for its robotaxi and robotics businesses — which cut into money made from an otherwise sharp increase in vehicle sales. Net income totaled $1.11 billion for the period, while revenue climbed to $28.24 billion.

FILE - The Tesla logo is displayed at a Tesla dealership Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, file)