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DOUGLAS — Members of a family allege U.S. Border Patrol agents were too aggressive when they responded to a house outside Douglas late last month.
A Border Patrol spokeswoman said the incident is under investigation.
At about 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 23, a Border Patrol agent stopped at the house, which is located along East Dahlia Street. Maria Dora Montano was outside talking with her son, Arnoldo, 18.
Montano, 41, said the agent confronted her son. Arnoldo flipped his middle finger at the agent. They disputed and then Arnoldo threw a shovel that struck the Border Patrol vehicle. Arnoldo ran away.
 Castulo Macario shows where Border Patrol agents entered a house on East Dahlia Street in Douglas during an incident on Dec. 23. (onathon Shacat-Herald/Review) |
At that point, the agent called for backup. Additional agents arrived, and Montano claims they hit her a couple times.
Ramon Hernandez, 40, the owner of the house, and his nephew, Servando Macario, 24, went to the gate to see what was happening. They claim agents beat them.
“They kept hitting us with sticks and punching us,” Macario said.
Castulo Macario, 28, said he went outside and saw the agents beating his relatives. He went inside the house to tell someone to call 911. He said agents pushed open the door and sprayed tear gas inside. He said he was beaten repeatedly.
A total of about 12 adults, in addition to five children, were at the residence at the time of the incident.
Family members said the Border Patrol went overboard in response to the incident. An estimated 15 to 20 agents were there, according to the family.
The four who were beaten were taken to the Border Patrol station and questioned for several hours, according to family members.
They were eventually released. Charges were not filed against them.
The family said that on Dec. 24 another Border Patrol agent went to the house and apologized for the incident. The family was given a claim form to fill out to cover the cost of any damages and injuries.
Dove Haber, a public information officer for Border Patrol, said cases of misconduct are always investigated by outside agencies so they remain unbiased. She said the Border Patrol is not provided with briefings or updates on investigations.
“If indeed the situation actually occurred, then the Office of the Inspector General and the FBI will deal with the investigation accordingly,” she said.
“There are very strict protocols for all interactions that end in the use of force,” she added. “And we, as an agency, take this allegation seriously.”
During the incident, Valerie Hernandez, 15, called 911. Family members said officials from the Douglas Police Department and Cochise County Sheriff’s Office responded. They said the officials did not ask them any questions.
Marcus Gonzalez, a public information officer for the Douglas Police Department, said the location of the incident is not in the jurisdiction of the Douglas Police Department. Rather, it is in the jurisdiction of the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.
Cochise County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Carol Capas confirmed that 911 was called.
“In this particular situation, we did get the call and we did respond because it was a call for a disturbance and someone trying to break into a home,” she said. “We arrived on scene and Border Patrol had several units there already.”
Capas said a report was filed. Border Patrol officials indicated that someone from the residence threw a shovel through the window of one of their vehicles, she said.
Family members have contacted officials at the Mexican Consulate and the Border Action Network.
Raul Saavedra Cinta, deputy consul at the Mexican Consulate in Douglas, said officials are taking this case “very seriously.”
“We are getting all the evidence from the case to see what happened. We are going to get a legal opinion on it,” he said.
“If it turns out that there was some abuse committed in this case, we would provide all the assistance we can to the family.”
He said the consulate has been in contact with Border Patrol in reference to this case. He added officials have a “very good relationship” with the agency.
Jennifer Allen, executive director of Border Action Network, said the organization is bringing the incident to the attention of the Border Patrol Tucson Sector chief. It is also requesting a meeting with the agent in charge in Douglas to discuss the incident and an investigation into the conduct of the agents.
Allen said she thinks the first agent could have “completely avoided” the escalation of the incident.
“It is a difficult environment for them to operate in, which is all the more reason that agents should employ some really high degree of standards and have good training. They need to be able to deal effectively in these tense situations,” she said.
Herald/Review Reporter Jonathon Shacat can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at jonathon.shacat@bisbeereview.net.
armchair qb wrote on Jan 25, 2008 11:21 PM: