Father, son charged after Border Patrol agent dragged in South MS traffic stop
A father and son, both Honduran nationals, are facing federal charges after a U.S. Border Patrol agent was dragged about 20 feet during an attempted escape from an immigration enforcement stop on Interstate 10 in Hancock County, federal authorities say.
The incident began when a U.S. Border Patrol agent pulled over a blue van driven by Angel Augusto Villatoro-Maldonado near Exit 16 in Diamondhead in late November. His father, Santos Augusto Villatoro-Maldonado, was in the passenger seat.
The agent initiated the Nov. 25 stop after a license plate check showed the van was registered to an undocumented immigrant who had previously been deported.
A second agent arrived shortly after the first agent placed a wheel-blocking device behind the rear passenger-side tire of the van.
When agents instructed the father and son to roll down their windows, they refused, even shouting at one point from inside the van that they were “calling the police,” though both agents were wearing Border Patrol uniforms.
Agents warned they would break a window if the pair refused to follow their demands. Afterward, the agents saw the driver place his hand on the gear shift.
One agent used a baton to break a window and grabbed the driver’s arm to stop him from shifting the van into drive, but Angel Villatoro-Maldonado got the van into gear and drove off, dragging the agent roughly 20 feet into the middle of the two eastbound lanes of the interstate before the agent managed to free himself.
As the van pulled away, the blocking device punctured a rear tire, according to the criminal complaint, and the pursuit ended in a gas station parking lot off Yacht Club Drive, just south of I-10 in Diamondhead. After stopping, both father and son ran but were taken into custody shortly afterward.
A records check showed Santos Villatoro-Maldonado had previously been deported in October 2007 and re-entered the United States without authorization the following month near Laredo, Texas.
Both men were arrested on federal charges of forcibly assaulting, resisting, or impeding a federal officer. Santos Villatoro-Maldonado also faces an additional charge of attempted escape from federal custody, while Angel Villatoro-Maldonado is charged with aiding in an attempted escape.
In December, a judge in federal court in Gulfport ordered the father held without bond but allowed the son’s release on a $25,000 unsecured bond.
The arrests come as federal agents carry out Operation Swamp Sweep in Louisiana and South Mississippi, one of several immigration crackdowns underway nationwide, including Operation Catahoula Crunch.
The stepped-up enforcement action comes amid the Trump administration’s broader push on immigration enforcement.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has voiced his support for the immigration enforcement actions under Trump.
