Teen arrested after ATV attack on Border Patrol agent

PEÑITAS — Authorities arrested an 18-year-old who told investigators he rammed a U.S. Border Patrol agent with his ATV and fled the scene Tuesday night.

Orlando Lara, who had an underage passenger on the ATV, told investigators he rammed into Agent Anthony Gutierrez about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 1427 and Military Highway near the Peñitas pump house, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in McAllen.

If convicted of assaulting a federal agent, Lara could spend up to 20 years in federal prison.

Gutierrez told FBI agents he was stunned, his forehead was bleeding, he had temporarily lost vision in one eye, and he believed both his legs were broken, the complaint states.

“He’s banged up,” local Border Patrol spokesman John Lopez said, without disclosing the agent’s name.

Dazed and fearing for his life after the collision, the injured agent fired at least one gunshot as the ATV sped away from the scene, Lopez said.

Gutierrez and his partner, Rafael Garcia, later told investigators Lara drove his ATV straight for Gutierrez and accelerated before the impact, despite “substantial room for the ATV to swerve around,” the complaint states.

Border Patrol agents searched on the ground and with a helicopter until Lara and his underage passenger were found about an hour after the collision, court documents state. The pair had abandoned the wrecked ATV beside a nearby levee wall.

Gutierrez was rushed to McAllen Medical Center, where he was treated for cuts on his face and extensive bruising on both of his legs. He was released from the hospital on Wednesday.

FBI investigators identified no possible motive for why Lara, a U.S. citizen, drove the ATV into the agent, but Lopez said the area is known to be used for human and drug smuggling.

“We’re not sure what they were doing, if they were alien smugglers or who knows — something enough to warrant this assault, but we do not know what,” Lopez said.

Lara remains in federal custody. No charges had been filed in federal court against the juvenile passenger.

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.