PRESIDIO — A car chase in the Presidio area on Sunday ended with the detention of three migrants and the arrest of one person suspected of helping to transport them.
The Presidio County Sheriff’s Office was reportedly the lead agency on the incident, but the sheriff’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Big Bend Sentinel has not yet seen an incident report. The Presidio Police Department, which also responded to the scene, said the case is still under investigation.
According to a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which also responded, the incident started when a PCSO deputy noticed a gray Chrysler 300 heading eastbound on River Road with just one person, a driver.
“A short time later,” the CBP spokesperson said, “there were four people in [the car],” despite the fact that the car was on a remote part of River Road. This time, the car was going westbound towards Presidio. Those circumstances gave authorities probable cause to pull over the car, the spokesperson said, which a PCSO deputy then tried to do.
But the car didn’t stop, leading to a chase through Presidio. Around that point, Presidio police also apparently became involved.
Presidio police declined to comment on the incident, noting that they were not the lead agency. They instead directed questions to the sheriff’s office.
John Ferguson, the Presidio mayor, was at the post office with his wife Lucy at around 10 a.m. when the chase tore through town. They heard “someone flip on their sirens” — and then they saw the Chrysler.
A few minutes later, the chase was heading the other way, towards east Presidio. “It was just flying,” Ferguson said of the getaway car. “It was surreal.”
“It’s nice to know that law enforcement is out there taking care of our community,” he added. “They’re there when you need one.”