Border Agent Held in Alien Case Escapes

Authorities Friday issued a warrant for a Border Patrol officer who was arrested for allegedly smuggling an illegal alien across the border, then escaped from a detention facility within hours.

Officer Martin Nava, 27, was arrested about 6 p.m. Thursday as he drove a rental car north on a back road about three miles east of the Otay Mesa port of entry. Nava, who was off duty and out of uniform at the time, was accompanied by an 18-year-old woman who authorities said was a Mexican national.

Border Patrol agents followed tire tracks near the border and caught up with Nava within a mile of the border, said William Veal, Border Patrol deputy chief.

Nava was arrested on suspicion of smuggling an alien across the border and taken to the Brown Field detention facility, Veal said. Nava spent about two hours in the facility, from about 7 p.m. until 9 p.m., but he was never formally charged.

He Knew the System

“Because of his knowledge of how the facility operates, he was able to effect an escape,” Veal said.

Veal refused to elaborate on how Nava escaped, saying that he did not want to compromise an internal investigation. He did say, however, that Nava apparently did not have help from other agents.

Veal said he did not know what Nava’s motive was in helping the woman, whom he would not identify. Nava, who is single and lives in Chula Vista, had been with the Border Patrol for about 16 months and had just completed his probationary period.

Nava, 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds, was wearing camouflage pants, a green sleeveless shirt and a blue jacket when he escaped. Several illegal aliens who were being held in the same cell as Nava did not escape, Veal said.

Nava had a clean record with the Border Patrol before the incident, Veal said, but “he had not been with us long enough to become a real journeyman.”