SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The mother of an undocumented migrant who was killed in a high-speed Otay Mesa car crash sued the federal government Thursday because a U.S. Border Patrol agent pursued the vehicle he was riding in, causing undue risk to him and other people on the roadway, her lawsuit alleges.
Jesus Atenco Perez was one of two passengers killed when a vehicle driven by Chula Vista resident Sergio Josue Palomera crashed at high speeds on state Route 905 on Oct. 22, 2024.
Federal prosecutors, who charged Palomera in connection with the passengers' deaths, said Palomera was smuggling Perez and a woman at the time.
A pursuit ensued after a Border Patrol agent attempted to pull Palomera's car over and Palomera ultimately crashed in the westbound lanes of state Route 905.
The woman was ejected from the car and died at the scene, while Perez, 23, died later at a hospital. Palomera pleaded guilty to transportation of certain aliens resulting in death and was sentenced earlier to nearly six years in federal prison.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Perez's mother alleges a U.S. Border Patrol agent identified only as "D. Boone" in the federal complaint initiated a "reckless pursuit" of Palomera's vehicle, which "contributed to the fatal collision."
The complaint states the agent closely followed Palomera's car at high speeds, "which further escalated the suspect's erratic driving behavior" and that the chase "was conducted with reckless disregard for the safety of Jesus Atenco Perez, an unwilling backseat passenger who had no control over the driver's actions."
According to the lawsuit, the agent started pursuing the vehicle due to "a mismatched license plate ... which did not involve an immediate threat to public safety or national security."
Prosecutors alleged in sentencing documents from Palomera's criminal case that a car matching Palomera's had been spotted earlier that day at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry near a place where people were seen scaling the border fence. Though its driver couldn't be identified at the time, the car was able to elude a Border Patrol agent who attempted to stop it from leaving, but it crashed into the agent's car in the process, prosecutors wrote.
Just before the chase that began later that afternoon, the pursuing agent saw Palomera's vehicle and "noticed damage on the passenger side of the vehicle, indicating that it was likely the same vehicle that had eluded Border Patrol earlier that day."
Prosecutors said the agent terminated the pursuit after losing sight of Palomera's car, but Thursday's lawsuit said the pursuit should have been called off after he witnessed Palomera speeding and driving erratically. Prosecutors alleged data pulled from Palomera's airbag sensor showed his vehicle reached speeds of over 110 mph.
The lawsuit states that CBP policy mandates pursuits be initiated "only when the need for immediate apprehension outweighs the risks to public safety," such as when it involves a violent felony. The complaint also says CBP policies require pursuing agents "to maintain a safe distance to avoid pressuring the suspect into increasingly dangerous maneuvers."
The lawsuit also faults CBP for failing to implement stricter protocols and training regarding pursuit risks, because it alleges the agency was aware of at least three prior pursuits on state Route 905 earlier that year that resulted in "collisions or near-misses."
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