A pursuit by Kingsville police ended when the truck that law enforcement was after crashed while trying to bypass the security checkpoint on the Naval Air Station. The driver of the GMC Sierra pickup crashed head-on into pop-up security barriers that were activated when he or she failed to stop at the initial checkpoint.
The fatal accident took the lives of six people packed into the pickup and injured another nine. Initial reports indicate that they were undocumented immigrants from Honduras and Guatemala attempted to immigrate to the United States. The driver of the pickup had accelerated to 70 mph by the time he or she crashed into what the base refers to as a “final barrier.”
There were five people travelling in the bed of the pickup truck, covered by a tarp.
Overloaded vehicles containing many more people than should be transported at one time ending in fatal crashes is becoming a more frequent news story throughout South Texas. As drivers attempt to smuggle more and more people into the U.S. with the promise of higher payouts, drivers appear to be taking more risks in getting their passengers to their end destination.
Just last week, a driver attempting to flee law enforcement rolled his vehicle. All six of his passengers were detained; the driver suffered a broken neck in the crash. Over a year ago, a minivan carrying 19 people rolled several times after the driver decided to speed away from a traffic stop in an attempt to avoid any interaction with law enforcement in Palmview.
Source: Fox News, “Car Accident Leaves 6 Undocumented Immigrants Dead Near Texas Border,” March 21, 2013