Border Patrol Agent Down ..

[Puddle Pirate]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,324107,00.html

YUMA, Ariz. — A Border Patrol agent trying to stop a vehicle that had illegally entered the U.S. was struck and killed Saturday in southeastern California, agency officials said.

The agent was killed about 20 miles west of Yuma in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, a spot along the border that is popular with off-road vehicle enthusiasts and frequently used by smugglers.

The agent attempted to impede the vehicle's progress before he was hit, but the Border Patrol did not immediately have more information, said agent Eric Anderson, a spokesman for the agency's Yuma sector.

The name of the agent killed was not immediately released because his family had not been notified.

Witnesses told the Yuma Sun newspaper that agents were chasing a Hummer and a Ford pickup on Interstate 8 when the vehicles turned into the dunes and fled toward Mexico. The agent was trying to place spike strips in their path and was struck by the Hummer, they said.

The Imperial Sand Dunes are the largest dunes in California, extending north of the border for 40 miles and averaging five miles wide.

RIP :(

[chewy]

G.D. Illegals!

[GrahamX05]

RIP Sir :(

[Mike Romeo]

RIP brother, sadly another casualty of the "invasion".

[deputywave]

RIP BP agent

[SteveRay]

Border Patrol Continue To Investigate Agent's Death Near Yuma

Posted: Jan 20, 2008 05:44 PM MST

The manhunt is on as Mexican and U.S. authorities search for the people responsible for killing Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar, a six year veteran.

It happened 20 miles West of Yuma, in a popular recreation area on Saturday morning.

"His personality was to make people laugh and make the job fun for everybody. He was a great agent, I'm sure he was a great father, a great husband and he was a great person for the U.S. to have protecting their borders." says Agent Eric Anderson from Border Patrol's Yuma Sector.

Aguilar was trying to stop two vehicles that entered the U.S. From Mexico. The 32-year-old was placing spike strips on the road when he was hit by the Hummer on the run.

"As he started to deploy it, he didn't notice that the vehicle was coming straight at him. From eyewitness accounts the vehicle actually sped up and swerved toward the agent."

Aguilar died shortly after the impact. The hummer and a Ford truck escaped into Mexico. Aguilar was killed just feet away from tourists and vendors at the Imperial Sand dunes.

The sand dunes are a tourist hot spot where thousands of people ride off-road equipment on any given weekend. But Border Patrol agents say it's also an area used by smugglers carrying drugs and people.

"Most of the smugglers scout that area, they come into the country illegally all the time and they ride around on their quads and they know the best route they can get into the country, the easiest and the fastest and they'll blend in with the people that are out there on the weekends."

Agent Anderson says there's no fence to keep smugglers out and as Border Patrol tightens their grip on illegal crossers, violence against agents is getting worse.

"Whether it's a rock being thrown at somebody, a bottle full of gasoline lit on fire at somebody or a vehicle striking our agents, every single day there is an attack on a Border Patrol agent and this one ended in a death."

Border Patrol is planning a memorial this week. Just one day after Aguilar's death, visitors at the popular sand dunes are feeling the loss.

"I don't think people realize how important they are to us and our safety and whenever we realized what happened, we were both devastated about it," says Tonya Maifield.

Tonya and her husband, Perry, were among several visitors who added flowers to a makeshift memorial honoring Aguilar.

"It will always be a very special memorial for our family to remember this man died here protecting us," adds Tonya.

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp...1&nav=menu86_2

[BP348]

Prayers sent to the family. His brother is a Border Patrol Agent.

RIP Brother

[chewy]

Prayers sent to the family. His brother is a Border Patrol Agent.

RIP Brother

Does he work the same sector? If so I feel sorry for the G.D. dirtbags involved if he finds them! I know what I'd do... blah blah blah.. "in fear for my life.." ;)

[CPDlife4ME]

Mexico Arrests Suspect in U.S. Agent's Death

Posted: Thursday, January 24, 2008
Updated: January 24th, 2008 10:11 AM PDT

By JERRY SEPER
The Washington Times

Mexican law-enforcement authorities arrested a man in the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent who died Saturday when drug- and alien-smuggling suspects ran him down as he tried to lay spike strips on a road about a mile north of the Mexico border.

Mexican federal and state police said Jesus Navarro Montes, 22, was taken into custody in the northern state of Sonora in the killing of Agent Luis Aguilar Jr., 32, who was struck and killed at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

According to a joint statement yesterday by Mexico's federal Attorney General's Office and Public Safety Department, Mr. Navarro left Mexicali in Baja California on Saturday, headed for the U.S. in a Hummer carrying drugs, and that after running down the agent, he drove to Mexicali and gave the Hummer to accomplices for safekeeping.

It said Mr. Navarro had previously been detained and jailed for smuggling 10 illegal aliens into the U.S., adding that there also was a warrant for his arrest in Mexicali on alien-trafficking counts.

Last night, Mexican federal authorities in Baja California told reporters that information from the Navarro arrest had led them to three Mexicali homes where they found materials for making fake U.S. immigration papers - blank documents, border-crossing cards, temporary visas, and stamping machines to produce U.S. government seals.

Agent Aguilar, a six-year Border Patrol veteran assigned at the agency's Yuma, Ariz., sector office, was killed when struck by the driver of a Hummer fleeing other Border Patrol agents near the Imperial Sand Dunes in California, about 20 miles west of the state's border with Arizona. More arrests are expected in the case, because two trucks were involved in the deadly chase.

In a statement to Border Patrol agents issued before Mexico announced the arrest, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner W. Ralph Basham and Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar called the breaking investigation "encouraging news" and said they "are optimistic that progress is being made toward the eventual prosecution and conviction of those individuals connected to this heinous act."

"In the face of increasing acts of violence against our officers and agents, CBP's resolve in securing America's borders is unwavering," they said. "We continue to mourn the loss of Agent Aguilar and will not rest until all those responsible are brought to justice."

Mr. Basham and Chief Aguilar said they appreciated the "dedication shown" by local, state, federal and international law-enforcement partners in bringing those responsible to justice, and particularly commended the "rapid response" of the Mexican government, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Justice Department.

Border Patrol officials said Agent Aguilar was struck as other agents were trying to stop the fleeing Hummer and a Ford F-250 pickup that crossed from Mexico into the U.S. He was declared dead at the scene.

Mexican authorities in Baja California recovered the burned remains of a Hummer and Ford pickup Sunday afternoon. Identification numbers showed both trucks had been stolen in California.

Agent Aguilar's death, the first for the Border Patrol in 2008, comes at a time when assaults on border agents continue to rise - from 384 in 2005 to 987 in 2007. In the first quarter of fiscal 2008, which began Oct. 1, there were about 300 assaults on Border Patrol agents, on a pace to reach 1,200 by the end of the year.

The rise is attributed by CBP to a greater law-enforcement presence, criminal resistance to tightening operational control along the Southwest border and turf battles between rival drug- and alien-smuggling gangs.

"Dangerous criminal groups have chosen to respond to our tougher security posture at the border with increased violence," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "They mistakenly believe we will give way in the face of violence. We will continue to show them how wrong they are."

[North Patrol]

R.I.P Brother

May you be avenged!

[sparty]

What sucks is the only way Mexico will extradite the scum is if we promise not to execute him. I'm sorry, he killed a federal agent while committing a felony - he doesn't deserve to live.

[BP348]

What sucks is the only way Mexico will extradite the scum is if we promise not to execute him. I'm sorry, he killed a federal agent while committing a felony - he doesn't deserve to live.

At least they caught the S.O.B.

[SO explorer]

Rest In Peace Agent