DHS agent indicted after he allegedly 'accelerated' vehicle to strike walking suspect

A Border Patrol agent was indicted after court documents said he "accelerated" his vehicle into a suspect who was walking calmly and posed no threat to officers.

Border Patrol agent Raymundo Ramos Jr., 41, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to MyRGV. A Cameron County grand jury indicted him on June 10, MyRGV reported.

Ramos was working as a Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer on Jan. 31, 2025, when the incident occurred during a joint immigration enforcement operation in Harlingen, Texas, a joint investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department Offices of Inspector General confirmed.

The agent's target that day was Alejandro Martinez-Castaneda, a Mexican national whom officers were trying to arrest for an immigration violation, according to MyRGV.

Ramos told a Harlingen police investigator that Martinez-Castaneda was running away, so he drove toward him to make the arrest, hit his brakes, and his vehicle slid into him, MyRGV reported.

Surveillance video from a home on East Fillmore Avenue showed Martinez-Castaneda walking — not running — when Ramos's vehicle struck him, according to KRGV. Investigators said they heard no sound of braking on the video and found no skid marks at the scene, MyRGV reported.

A homeowner who witnessed the crash said Ramos drove "super quick" and struck Martinez-Castaneda with no lights, sirens, verbal commands, or other officers present, according to MyRGV.

Martinez-Castaneda told investigators that he never tried to run.

The witness said Ramos "accelerated in his direction, drove directly toward him and hit him with his vehicle," and that he never saw emergency lights activated, MyRGV reported. Martinez-Castaneda said he spent four days in the hospital and later had surgery on his back, neck and leg.

A federal special agent who reviewed the case concluded that Ramos's use of force "was not within the scope of a Law Enforcement Official's authorized use of force," MyRGV reported.

The agent noted that Martinez-Castaneda was "walking calmly in a non-threatening manner" and posed no danger to the public, according to MyRGV.

Ramos declined a voluntary interview with investigators in March 2026, according to MyRGV.

His attorney, Nat C. Perez, is seeking to move the case from state court to federal court — meaning a federal judge, not a state one, would handle it.

Perez argued that because Ramos was carrying out a federal immigration operation, he has a federal defense against the state charges, MyRGV reported.

Court documents note that federal agencies reviewed the incident internally and allowed Ramos to keep working for roughly a year before the state prosecution began, according to MyRGV.

Ramos is scheduled for arraignment on Aug. 3 in the 445th state District Court in Cameron County. No federal charges have been filed, according to court records.