EL PASO, Texas – A federal magistrate judge has set a trial date for two men accused of speeding away from a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in San Diego last month, nearly striking a border agent in the process.
Javier Gilberto Lozano and Usiel Alberto Moreno Hernandez allegedly disregarded an agent’s command to stop on May 21, speeding off in a gray Nissan Versa on State Route 94. According to court documents, a Department of Defense camera operated by personnel on the Mexican border detected migrants emerging from the brush and entering the vehicle. The military alerted the Border Patrol as the car drove away from the border.
When Lozano failed to stop at the Brown Field Border Patrol checkpoint, a second agent deployed a vehicle immobilization device, causing the driver to swerve and accelerate towards the agent, who narrowly avoided being struck. Border Patrol vehicles pursued the speeding Versa until it came to a stop due to damage caused by the device.
Lozano and Hernandez were taken into custody along with a material witness who claimed the two suspects instructed the witness to get into the vehicle and lie down. The suspects pleaded not guilty to charges of transporting illegal aliens and unlawful high-speed flight from an immigration checkpoint during a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge David D. Leshner. They waived indictment and are scheduled to appear at a trial-setting hearing on July 15 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
